


On The Genealogy of Morality

by Herr_Wozzeck



Series: They Who Fight Monsters [1]
Category: Beyond: Two Souls, Mass Effect
Genre: Alternate Universe, Deconstruction, Friendship, From another world, Gen, Parallel Realities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-01
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-14 04:35:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 202,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1253107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Herr_Wozzeck/pseuds/Herr_Wozzeck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jodie's life takes a turn for the futuristic when she appears a century or two into the future. Even as she learns to deal with the strangeness around her, she finds that fate does not like to let her have even a single second of rest. As she journeys on the Normandy with Shepard and the crew, she slowly uncovers a conspiracy on a galactic scale while gaining the trust of the people around her. Part One of "They Who Fight Monsters".</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Parallel Realities](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/94310) by InHarmsWay. 



_But thus I counsel you, my friends: mistrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful._ _They are people of a low sort and stock; the hangman and the bloodhound look out of their faces. Mistrust all who talk much of their justice! Verily, their souls lack more than honey. And when they call themselves the good and the just, do not forget that they would be Pharisees, if only they had — power._

-Friedrich Nietzsche,  _Also Sprach Zarathustra_

* * *

**They Who Fight Monsters**

Prologue: Black Sun

Jack Harper stood in the room he liked to stand in when contemplating. It was true there was a chair, but he decided to eschew the chair in favor of standing during that particular day. He found it difficult to sit still when he was agitated, after all, and he needed everything he could use to calm himself down. The view of the sun that was directly in front of him was always good for agitation, he found. It was always calming to see something familiar directly in front of him.

He especially needed the calming effect of it then, but for some reason that soothing quality of this sun wasn't getting through to him. Jack was one to always put up a stoic countenance no matter what he did, and this time was no exception. Inwardly, however, his heart was racing, and he felt that at any moment it could burst. His fingers, normally sure and steady, were shaking slightly. A cold sweat formed on his forehead, and his eyes were bloodshot from days of being unable to rest. About the only thing that looked composed about him at that moment was the lit cigarette he was inhaling every so often, and even that would not sit still long in his shaking hands.

He still had to process what he had done by proxy.

It had been for the good of the galaxy, he told himself. He had saved them from a threat far more immediate and far worse than anything he had ever seen. When he first heard of what had happened to the people who had gone…  _there_ , he knew that there was something sinister lurking underneath. So he took measures to end it. He knew it would save the galaxy, not just humanity. It was necessary, and nobody else would do it even if they knew of its existence. He had just saved an entire galaxy of people. He had to do it.

So why did he feel as much guilt as he did?

He felt a slight burning sensation on one of his fingers. Jack simply shook his head, throwing the cigarette stub off to the side. He quickly pulled another cigarette, grabbed his lighter, and held the lighter up to the cigarette. His fingers remained shaky, though, which meant that the small flame would not stay still at the end of the cigarette. Jack took a deep breath to calm himself, pulling the lighter away so he wouldn't breathe on it and blow it out by accident. The deep breaths steadied himself, and then he was able to light his cigarette more effectively.

As he inhaled and breathed out, he watched the smoke particles dance. He then turned his head to the side where many dozens of cigarette stubs laid untended to. Jack briefly thought about how unscrupulous it was of him to leave those stubs there without cleaning them up, but this concern was quickly whisked away by the storm of emotions he was feeling. He would worry about it later: he had time to worry about such unimportant things later.

He looked out to the red sun in front of him again. A part of him secretly wished his sun would immediately turn black. It would only have been appropriate for what he had done. But the sun remained red, blazing away at all in front of it with no care for what Jack Harper was feeling.

The cigarette in his mouth burned down to its stub quickly, and, with a quick observation on how he hadn't even had the time to enjoy the taste, Jack tossed it to the side with a rushed flick of his wrist.

* * *

Rael'Zorah coughed ever so lightly, feeling the phlegm lodge in his throat again. His fever raged on, and he had to hold a hand to his head in a vain attempt to stem the horrible headache he had. Even in the mostly sterilized environment of the Neema, it seemed that Rael'Zorah's illness only seemed to get worse on the Fleet.

He  _hated_ being sick more than most quarians would admit. It only made the problem worse that his species was so easily infected by even something so minor as simple exposure to the air. Checking for everything obsessively had almost become second nature to him by then, and to think that his illness would be a result of such a thing was always the worst sensation in the world for the newly-minted admiral. He could  _never_ get used to being sick, even when his Pilgrimage had exposed him to illness often enough that it grew to be a problem.

Recuperating from the illness was even worse. As an admiral, he now had duties to the fleet that only seemed to drag his illness out to even more ridiculous lengths of time than before. There was so much to oversee. There was the management of affairs of the fleet. There was plotting their course, and where they would go next. There was overseeing the life support systems of the liveships. Sending quarians on missions. Keeping track of resources. Managing his own ship. And then there was probably something else he missed as well. And all the while, he had to brave a cold.

Rael'Zorah gulped, holding the tube of sterilized water in his hand. He hated being sick.

However, in this one particular instance, it had been worth it.

He sniffled, looking up as his eyes lightened a little in happiness. He had finally seen his daughter for the first time. He visited Mari'Zorah while she was still recuperating, and while there he had requested to hold his daughter in his bare hands. He never thought that his own little girl would be so beautiful, but there it was. By then she had already been placed in the protective bubble, but the weight felt so real in his arms. So too did the way her hands reached out for him.

Rael'Zorah's spirit was lifted every time he saw her in his mind's eye. He never knew what having a child of his own was like, but at that point, after holding his daughter in his arms...

He could get through the work, cold and everything. He could power through it. He had to. The state of affairs for the quarians was not great. There  _had_ to be something better than this, he knew it. There had to be something better than this, and he knew that it was up to him to change their state of affairs. Not just for the Fleet. Not just for the species.

He had to make it better for his little Tali'Zorah. His daughter  _would_ be brought into a better world than the one he was raised in, and he would not rest until he did everything in his power to make the lot of the quarians a better one. He needed to do it. They had faced the inky blackness of space long enough. At some point, he would watch an actual sun rise on the quarian people, instead of the numerous black suns they woke up to. And he would do anything to make it happen.

The admiral squeezed the last of the water out of the sterilized container, and then sighed. With careful motions, he removed the induction port from his suit, and let out a cough that was not as harsh as the previous one. He had a meeting with the other admirals about finding more element zero for the ships, and that could not afford to wait.

And thus, he made his way towards the room where such matters were frequently discussed.

* * *

To say that Jodie Holmes' life was flashing before her eyes would have been an understatement. Indeed, she saw many ghosts taking form around her, even feeling her body grow younger as she witnessed all the people in her life parade on in a never-ending reminder of her past. She saw forms she never thought she would see again. She saw faces she would rather not have seen ever again. But overall, there was one sentiment all of the ghosts shared: spite.

She also heard the voices of a legion of people, all of the voices close enough that she thought they were screaming in her ear. She recognized all the voices: how could she not when all the voices were the people she had known throughout her life? She heard the two men from the bar, shouting about how they were going to use her. She heard her first adoptive father calling her a monster. She heard the taunting of the men who put her in a coma. She even heard poor little Salim shouting at her in a mixture of rage and sorrow. All the voices together formed a terrifying cacophony, one that made her skin crawl in nervous anticipation.

She felt all sorts of entities pull at her, millions and millions of hands pulling. It made it difficult to walk, and she felt herself willing to give up and allow herself to be torn asunder by all the forces acting on her. Never in her life had she felt a physical force act against her in such a way, not even when she was walking at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean or even when the entities tugged at her at the much smaller Condenser facility close to where she had been raised by Cole and Nathan.

Nevertheless, she pressed on. For there was one single image forcing itself into the front of her mind: the image of a black sun, very slowly expanding and infecting the very air around it. She pressed on, knowing the kind of shit the whole world would get into if it were allowed to remain open. Her lungs burned and her eyes stung with tears, but she knew she had to press on. Nobody else could do this.

It had to be her. It was always her.

She looked up, and even through the haze all around her, she saw it: that small, unassuming control panel, somehow illuminated in the strange subversive physics of the storm around her. Her resolve spiked again, and breaking free of the hands that tugged she made a push for that control panel. She felt her energy get sapped, and she made the faint realization that she was fast approaching the other side. She briefly wondered what the Infraworld must have looked like from inside, but she shook the thought from her head.

The control panel seemed like it was years away, and yet with each step it got closer at an alarming rate. She felt herself get pulled in all directions, not by hands this time but by the sheer force around her. Some of the force even seemed to pull her towards the panel, and it was on this force that Jodie concentrated on, willing herself to go along with it, willing herself to reach her hand out…

It surprised her greatly at how little effort it took her to grab the lever and pull it all the way to the "off" position on the panel. She felt a twinge of relief flood through her there. The world could continue to exist, free of the influence of the Infraworld.

And then, she felt an otherworldly pull strengthen as quickly as her relief flooded through her. It pulled her further into the diminishing black sun, and she felt all sorts of forces pull on her from every direction. Eventually, the pain became too much, and she screamed out in anguish as she was pulled into the sun.

However, she immediately felt the pain subside. Instead, she had the sensation of a familiar, comforting feeling envelop her as she was pulled in. The last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was the translucent blue light of Aiden trying to shield her from whatever was hurting her.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hi everybody! It's Herr Wozzeck here, making my Archive of my Own debut! I've been active on fanfiction.net for some time, but I thought I'd bring this latest thing to the Archive, 'cause I feel like it. So if you look through fanfiction.net later today, you'll probably find it there as well.
> 
> But, well, some of you might be wondering what this is inspired by? Well... it's actually inspired by something terrible.
> 
> See, I've sort of seen this… trend in the Mass Effect section on fanfiction.net recently, and I'll say right now that it's kind of beginning to get annoying. That trend happened to be started by InHarmsWay's atrocious fanfic by the name of Parallel Realities, which is about Shepard coming from a parallel reality rather than from one of the three canon backgrounds. It only gets worse from there. I'd tell you all my grievances with it, but really, I spent an entire year talking about that fic elsewhere on the internet, so I won't bother you too much with said grievances.
> 
> But the gist of those grievances is this: not only is that fic incredibly stupid, but it basically flanderizes everything that made the Mass Effect universe interesting. Worse, it actually ended with some unfortunate implications that kind of pissed me off. And worse than that is the fact that now another author took his idea and started doing stupid things with it too. That fic, while mostly a plagiarism of the original Parallel Realities, somehow manages to be even stupider. And then that got someone writing in that universe.
> 
> So I decided that, due to the poor quality of the stories that continually come out of that, the entire genre that Parallel Realities somehow managed to spawn was overdue for a deconstruction. And what better way to do that than to throw Jodie Holmes and her little ghost friend Aiden into the mix?
> 
> Now, I'd like to make one thing clear: I actually like Beyond: Two Souls. Is it a masterpiece? No. Is it flawed? Hell yes. Does it show why David Cage can be full of shit sometimes? You bet. But for me, I liked the story enough that I was able to forgive its flaws as a game.
> 
> But some of you might be wondering: so is that why you're writing a crossover, and with that subject, to boot? Actually, the thing that screams for Jodie Holmes to show up is that I feel she actually presents a great counterpoint against the parallel galaxy in this fic. Jodie has basically had a sucky life where her ability to trust in people has sort of been hampered by people who've tried to control her because of her connection to Aiden. So in that way, she provides counterpoint to the Shepard in those fics, who is a control freak who doesn't trust anyone he can't control. (How, you might ask? I'll talk more in-depth about that, and about Jodie Holmes as a character, as we go.)
> 
> But that won't be for quite some time. First, we gotta get to point B. And to get to point B, we've got a story to tell. It's a genre deconstruction, yes, but first and foremost it's a story. And if we lose sight of that, what chance have we got to let this story succeed on its own terms?
> 
> So with that said, we've got this: This fic consists of multiple properties that are not mine. Mass Effect is copyright to the guys at Bioware and EA Games. The fanfiction Parallel Realities was originally written by InHarmsWay, and various species and cultural concepts were lifted from both that and From another world by EclipsePheniox. Beyond: Two Souls is copyright David Cage and the guys at Quantic Dream. Any original characters, such as Xerxes Garkaran, Kalo'Veera nar Idenna, and various others, were created by me.
> 
> So for now, let's get this story started, shall we? Here we go:

 

**Part I: On The Genealogy of Morality**

Chapter One

When sensation returned to Jodie, she felt a crick in her neck. She also noticed that she was laying on a cold metal floor, though she was not cold by any extent of the imagination. She had feeling in her limbs, however, and when she tested it, her hand opened at her command (rather sluggishly, but it opened nonetheless).

Jodie slowly opened her eyes, her gaze falling onto a metal wall right across from where she was. She blinked, unsure if she was really seeing a wall made of metal. Eventually, though, she realized that yes, she was: nothing seemed to shine with the kind of sheen that metal did, and that was a fact of life that Jodie had gotten used to after everything that occurred in Kazirstan. With a groan, she pushed herself up into a seated position, her legs on the ground as she blinked the tired feeling out of her eyes. She looked up and down, noticing that she was in an alleyway of some kind. The alley was completely empty: this made Jodie a little unnerved, as she at least expected to see a trash receptacle. For the moment, she was alone, and she was painfully aware of the clothing she wore on her back.

She looked around. Jodie could tell that there was something wrong, but she could not quite place her finger on what felt wrong about it. There was something…  _missing_ , in her mind, and it was something she could not quite grasp at. She could have sworn that she was in a chamber somewhere before this, pushing against an unseen force…

And then, Jodie twitched as the moments before she blacked out came back to her. The rush towards the black sun, the way her life played out before her, the effort of pulling the switch, her being swept up while protected by… by…

"Aiden?" Jodie looked up at the air around her, her eyes wide in fear. "Aiden, are you there?"

At first, she was greeted by silence. She looked around frantically, pushing herself to her feet as her gaze shifted to and fro. Her breath quickened slightly as she looked for something,  _any_ confirmation that Aiden was there.  _No_ , she thought, looking around.  _Aiden, please… Aiden, please be there…_

And then, she heard a clicking sound come from above her. It was a rather faint sound and it seemed distorted by whatever unreality existed where Jodie was the only one who heard him, but she heard it nonetheless. The fact that it was a sound only she could hear helped allay her fears considerably. She looked up, a smile coming to her face as she bent over her knees and let out a relieved sigh.

"Thank God," Jodie said. "I thought I'd lost you again." She chuckled bitterly, and then pushed herself off her knees. "I need to stop underestimating you like that."

Aiden clicked at her. It was a rather unamused click by the sound of it, but that fact alone was enough to bring comfort to her.

Jodie looked up. "I know, Aiden," she said. "I know." She then looked around at the alley she was in, her arms swinging at her sides as she surveyed it. "Well… we closed the black sun, but…" She looked around, getting her bearings. "Where  _are_ we? I thought we were in a facility. With the others. I thought…" She then paused, looking at her hands. They felt a little strange, but it was nothing that Jodie could not handle alone.

She shook her head. "Well, this is going to be interesting," she said, looking at where she assumed Aiden was. "We need to figure out where we are. Wherever that is. I'd be very interested to know why the CIA dumped me in an unknown place so soon after I solved their problem for them." She then looked to the end of the alley, seeing what looked like city lights at the end. "Come on, Aiden. Let's go."

Jodie then walked rather slowly to the end of the alley, knowing Aiden well enough to know that he would follow her no matter what. It was a side effect of the link she and Aiden had shared from her birth, actually: they were basically inseperable. Jodie thought back to her earliest childhood memories, thinking of how Aiden had made her life rather difficult at the beginning. How he still liked to make her life difficult even as an adult.

But at the present moment, Aiden's presence was comforting, familiar. And in a place she knew nothing about, that was a good comfort to have.

Jodie walked over to the end of the alleyway, hearing various people talk. "Well, at least I'm in a city," she muttered under her breath. "At least then I can—"

And then, Jodie stepped outside of the alleyway.

She took one look at the scenery around her, before gasping rather suddenly and retreating somewhat into the alleyway. She blinked several times, and when that failed to erase the image in front of her she rubbed her eyes. When  _that_ failed to work, she looked up, her eyes wide in astonishment at what she saw.

"Aiden, are… are you seeing what  _I'm_  seeing?" she asked nervously.

A whoosh of other-worldly sound was the only confirmation she had that Aiden saw what she saw.

Jodie took in a very shaky breath, looking at her surroundings. All around her were people walking to and fro across a busy city walkway. That should have been normal. But she could barely recognize  _any_ of the forms that were walking around minding their own businesses. Some seemed to look like extra-plated versions of velociraptors minus the tails, some looked like strange frogs, and there were even some that looked like a make-up artist had too much free time and decided to add unmoving tentacles to a woman's head. Jodie briefly felt her skin crawl at how…  _alien_ everyone seemed to look, and the only confirmation she had that there was anything normal occurring around her was the sight of a few humans milling about within the crowd. She wondered how the hell they moved about as if nothing was awry, and that only served to send shivers down her spine.

The walkway itself was very different as well. It was all-metal, but every so often she could see some kind of display made entirely out of holograms. Jodie thought holograms were something only seen in something like  _Logan's Run_ , but there they were, displaying... something, she couldn't tell what. It was upon noticing this that she then turned her attention to the various clothing of everyone around her, noticing that they were wearing something futuristic. She even thought she saw some of the holograms on people's arms. And as she looked around, she saw just how many people there were in this situation.

She slowly stepped out, and when she looked around she noticed that much of the area was bathed in colored light. It was not neon-bright by any means, but it definitely colored the area in a blue-ish light. She also noticed some holograms around the arms of the various…  _things_ running around, and… And...

Jodie felt her throat constrict against her will. Her eyes widened, and then she found herself stumbling towards a bench that happened to be nearby. It was empty, a fact Jodie was thankful for as she sat on the bench and gripped the back of it for support. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to concentrate on breathing in, breathing out, breathing in, breathing out, over and over and over again to calm her racing heart...

It took about a minute or so, but Jodie's throat finally relaxed, as did her pulse. She took a couple more breaths before looking back up at her surroundings. She was still in awe of what she was seeing, and her little panic attack proved that whatever was going on here could not have been the product of any kind of fever dream.

Jodie looked up at where Aiden was, her eyes still a little wide. "Shit…" she whispered. "Aiden, where the hell are we?"

Aidan clicked frantically. Jodie could tell that he was just as shocked as she was. She glanced around, feeling her throat constrict somewhat as she looked around at all the unfamiliar things that were swirling around her. It was all rather overwhelming, and suddenly questions began to form in her head.

But prominently, one question came to the forefront:

_What the hell am I doing in this place, and how did I get there?_

She sighed, looking up at Aiden. "Well... wherever we are, we've gotta survive first," she says. "Come on. Let's go get a sense of where we are."

Aiden could only click his agreement at Jodie's sentiment before the two went on their way.

* * *

Sometime later, Jodie sat at a different bench from the one she sat at earlier. She looked up at all the people around her, still in their unfamiliar forms. It had taken her quite a bit to get used to this, during which time she had managed to gather a few details about the world around her. It was nothing she could have gotten from talking about, but Jodie had become quite good at picking up details from the environment around her thanks to some of Aiden's abilities. She was grateful that he was still around: at present, it was making her life much easier.

Obviously, this place was not Earth. She had not seen anything resembling a normal sky, and when she could find a place to look at a skyline she found that the view was of a city that stretched on to a ring, and that there were four adjacent city-looking things also attached to this ring. She also noticed there was no real sun, so obviously she had to be somewhere away from Earth. And if she was away from Earth, this meant she had gone somewhere in the far future. This was apparent by the technology more than by the environment, but since she had seen a couple of flying cars after leaving that alley, she reasoned that she was several centuries in the future.

She could also discount that it was all a vision from the Infraworld. Not only was it far,  _far_ too vivid to be that, but Aiden himself verified that the actual Infraworld looked quite a bit different from this place. Besides, Jodie knew what entities looked like, and she knew that there was no way they would take those forms in particular.

Of course, none of this did anything to answer Jodie's ultimate question of how she got there in the first place. She figured that the Black Sun had something to do with it, but she kept drawing a blank every time she tried to figure out what exactly had happened. The Black Sun was only meant to act as a portal between the Infraworld and the physical world, so how did it propel her into the far future? The possibility of the space existing as a kind of alternate dimension had occurred to Jodie at one point during her investigation, but that thought was immediately dispelled when she considered that the Black Sun was built with the express idea that it knew  _exactly_ what it was trying to open to.

She shook her head. "At least I won't have the CIA on my back," she muttered darkly. She looked up at Aiden in concern. "Right, Aiden?"

The entity whooshed in reply. Jodie sighed, sitting there looking around her. After some time, she had finally gotten the CIA off of her back, but right then... Right then, she was even more abnormal than before. Aside from having been transplanted into who knew when, she still had Aiden, and she was still an outcast. Only this time, she was an outcast in an even more obvious manner.

Aside from the fact that she was born well in the past, she noticed that nobody on this station seemed to speak English, even with the human population. Worse, she had no idea where to begin with looking up the history of everyone so she would know where in time she was. And most of all, she didn't know if English could even be spoken, and if so what she should do about it. She had no idea what to do, she had no idea how she would communicate, and the only thing she had on her side was Aiden (who was only so useful in a situation like this).

She sighed, standing up and brushing some hair out of her face. Well, she did see various public computers all over the place, and she knew Aiden could manipulate electronics. Maybe she could get to one of those terminals and have Aiden make sure it read in—

Jodie was suddenly knocked to the ground rather roughly from the force of having crashed into someone. She let out a gasp as her body hit the floor, and then she looked up in surprise to see one of those spiky raptor-looking things hovering over her. Before she could get a good look at the person who bumped into her, though, the spiky raptor-thing rushed past her, letting off some quick sounds before he continued on his way. As Jodie looked on, she watched as he ran by without even casting a look at her.

Jodie frowned, standing up and brushing herself off. "I'm fine, by the way," she muttered sardonically. "Thanks for asking. Asshole." She growled at this, looking up at Aiden. "Some people, huh, Aiden?"

But instead of replying, Aiden remained strangely mum. She shook her head, looking back at where the spiky man had—

And then she stopped, turning her attention back to the ground. For in front of her was some chip-looking thing. It was large enough to be a wallet, and from the looks of it…

Jodie bent down and picked the object up, turning it towards her to take a good look at it. She noticed something at the top, and when she parted her fingers to get a better look she saw something that reminded her somewhat of a bar code. Or at least, that was the closest association she could come up with: it looked rather different in terms of material, for this bar code seemed to be made mostly out of metal.

_Wait_ , she thought.  _If that's a bar code…_  She then looked to where the spiky man had run off.  _Was this his…?_

Jodie looked at the object, and then up at the air. "Aiden, do you think it's some kind of ID?" she asked.

The resulting series of clicks Jodie heard was telling. But Jodie could tell from the rapid, almost frantic succession they were heard in that he was thinking the same thing.

She nodded. "Then… I don't know how we're going to do this, but we need to get this back to him," she said. "Even if he  _did_ just brush me off without so much as an apology." She then glanced about the area, eyeing the uniform of everyone there. "You think there's a law enforcement officer here? If this is some kind of ID, and if we're in the future, then maybe they could trace the owner…"

She then steeled her glance, looking through the crowd. "Come on, Aiden," she said. "Let's go find the law enforcement around here."

Aiden offered no protest as Jodie began walking in a random direction.

* * *

Eventually, she came to some kind of establishment that was built right into one of the walls. There was a bright sign above it that read as "C-SEC". She looked inside the establishment, seeing a grouping of those blue-suited aliens she had seen periodically as she walked through the Citadel holding the mysterious raptor's identification... thing in her hands. She looked up, and noticed that some of these people seemed to be armed.

Jodie tapped her foot against the ground. "Well, I think this is it, Aiden," she said. "I mean, they look like law enforcement, and they've got 'sec' in the name, so..." She sighed. "You don't think they'll speak English, do you?"

Aiden replied with a soft whoosh followed by an abrupt click. Jodie turned her gaze to the ground upon hearing this. "Yeah, probably not," she said. She sighed, and looked right at the establishment and holding the thing in her hand.

She shook her head, and took a deep breath. "Well, Aiden, let's do this," she said.

And with this, she walked into the establishment, seeing one of the tentacle-headed aliens sitting at a desk towards the front. She was wearing a dark blue uniform just like everyone else in there, and it appropriately looked futuristic. For a second, Jodie felt very self-conscious of her attire, but the feeling passed very quickly as she walked up to this alien. There was something alluring about this alien's dark-blue skin and the way her auburn eyes seemed to match it. As she walked up, Jodie noticed how feminine this alien looked, and was briefly taken by how beautiful this strange alien seemed.

And then the alien looked at Jodie, and the alien's gaze seemed to punch a hole though Jodie. The disconnect was enough that Jodie felt her skin crawl for a second or two as the alien seemed to eye her up and down.

The alien spoke immediately, her voice steely in the way that Nathan and Cole would be when they were in one of their 'no-nonsense' moods. True to form, Jodie could not understand the onslaught of words that this strange alien spoke, but all the same she found that she was taken by the contrast of the steely voice with the smooth syllables that seemingly flowed like a river. The strange contrast between steely voice and watery syllables sounded kind of strangely alluring to her, and Jodie found herself briefly wondering how many men would like to be around her.

And then she realized that the air between them was silent.

"Oh, uh, sorry," said Jodie as she brought the item up to the alien's view. "I... I wanted to return an item. I bumped into someone earlier, and he dropped this as he ran past me. I wasn't able to return it to him before he disappeared into the crowd, so..."

The tentacle-headed woman looked at Jodie for a few seconds before reaching out and taking the item out of her hands. Jodie was surprised at how lightly she took it, considering the slightly steely tone of her voice. She looked the object over for a few seconds, narrowing her eyes as she inspected the object. The tentacle-head then said something else to Jodie. She still could not make out the voice, but judging from the slight rise of the alien's intonation at the end of the question Jodie suspected she was asking a question. And then, as the alien finished the question, she shook the wallet.

"Uh... Well, I... uh... thought that you would..."  _No no, too obvious. Of_  course  _she knows what I'm there for, I'm reporting a dropped ID_. Jodie shook her head. "Sorry. No, it belonged to some guy with... spikes coming out of his head, or something. I didn't get that great a look at whoever it was I bumped into. He was tall, though. And very spiky."

Jodie noticed the alien's expression take on a curious look, though she did see that it bordered slightly on being almost offended. The alien opened her mouth, and then closed it. The alien then said something snappily, the steely edge of her voice amplified by the slightest undercurrent of anger. The snappy comment went on for quite some time, and it seemed to get more and more percussive, breaking up the flow of the syllables like the percussion of a particularly wild heavy metal band. Even without knowing what the strange alien was saying, Jodie still felt the sting the strange words conveyed, and she cringed as the alien continued. After what felt like a few minutes, Jodie found that she was completely embarrassed, the silence between her and the alien suddenly rather awkward.

"Uh... Sorry." She then looked down at the ground. "I... I'm sorry if I offended anyone."  _Now if only I knew what the hell those things were called..._

The alien glared at Jodie for a few seconds, and then she turned her attention to her work station. Jodie looked up just in time to see the alien grab some kind of scanning device ( _finally, something that's familiar_ , she thought briefly) and scanned the bar-code looking thing quickly. She watched as some information showed up on the hologram, and the alien's glare softened as she nodded. The alien said something, but her voice was much less harsh than it was before. Jodie breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that the alien had forgotten her momentary lapse of judgment.

The tentacle-head then gestured to the opening of the doorway that was close by, saying something in a much more calm manner. Jodie assumed that it was an invitation to sit down, as her voice had become more welcoming.

Jodie bowed, her expression grateful as she looked at the alien. "Thank you," she said. "I'll wait right there for him."

And with this, Jodie walked over to the bench, sitting down and looking out to this strange new place.

* * *

The wait ended up being unexpectedly long. Jodie found herself looking up at the ceiling, sighing and thinking of nothing in particular.

Aiden was unusually quiet, actually. Considering that Aiden tended to get rather restless while waiting, Jodie remained rather relieved that he was remaining quiet. This allowed her to look out into the streets around her, getting used to the aliens around her. Now that she was able to get a better look, she noticed that there was a great deal more variety than she initially thought. There were the standard spike-heads and the tentacle-heads and the strange frog guys, but now she also noticed these huge guys in heavy armor that had funny faces that looked like a rock got glued onto it. She wondered what those were breifly, finding them to be fascinating-looking people. There were also some jelly-fish looking things and some strange-looking short people covered in a kind of environmental suit. Looking out, she was surprised by the sheer variety of alien life on display in front of her.

She had to admit, something about the whole thing was incredible. She knew what laid on the other side of death, but she had never known what could have been seen beyond Earth. Seeing these aliens parading around on what must have been a remote space station, she felt kind of awed in the best way possible.

Her thoughts then turned to Cole and Nathan, and then she found herself wondering how they would react to seeing this. Cole would probably get rather curious, if only preferring to hover around Jodie in case she got herself in any amount of trouble. But he'd probably tag along with Jodie just to see what was going on. And Nathan... Nathan would probably be rather awed by everything that Jodie was seeing. Jodie briefly wondered if Nathan would spend time trying to study if any of these aliens had a connection to the Infraworld, before shaking her head at the thought.

Either way, she imagined they would be just as awed as she was at what she was seeing. That was something that warmed her heart as she looked out into the Citadel.

And then, a spiky raptor entered the establishment, and Jodie immediately recognized him as the man she'd bumped into. This time, however, she was able to get a relatively decent look at him, and that was one thing she was grateful for. He was a lighter shade than most of the others of his kind she had seen, with a light-brown hue to his body and deep purple eyes that looked at her. However, perhaps most distinctive was what Jodie assumed was some kind of face tattoo. She had seen all variety of the face tattoos on all the other raptor-looking men, but this one was striking to her in that it was a bright yellow face tattoo rather than the darker shades she had noticed on the others. And above it all, he was actually not as imposing as the other ones.

Upon this second glance, Jodie realized that it was no surprise that she was knocked back on her ass by this man. He was tall and rather imposing, and much of the 'spikes' on his body looked like rock formations.

The strange raptor-looking person said something to the blue tentacle-head, but Jodie did not recognize the language. It consisted of a series of clicks and maybe a bunch of vowel sounds that Jodie could never place. It, too, was unlike any language she had ever heard before, and she had heard plenty throughout her life. The tentacle-head chuckled, however, and then replied back in her own words.

Jodie looked on in surprise, her eyes darting between the two alien parties as they spoke in an alternation of silky language and harsh clicks. It formed a cacophony of sounds for Jodie that were not related in any way, and yet by their body language she was able to tell that they were having an entire conversation. And yet, the strange alien continued speaking in her strange, flowing tongue, almost as if it was the same language as that of the more percussive language. As time went on, Jodie found herself getting more and more confounded, and she imagined that Aiden was having a similar reaction.

_How can these two understand each other?_  she thought.  _They're not even… what?_

She looked between them, completely confused as they carried on their conversation.

And then, the spiky alien looked at Jodie and said something to her. It took a second for the fact that he said something directly to her to register, and then she blinked.

"Um… You're welcome, I think…" She paused, zeroing in on the person's facial expression.

The raptor-like being then gave her a rather confused look, the tentacle-head giving a similar expression. They looked at each other awkwardly, and Jodie knew  _immediately_ that she must have misunderstood what the man had actually said. And in her confusion, she finally decided enough was enough.

"I… I can't understand you, sir," Jodie said. "What are you saying?"

The raptor seemed to frown (well, frown was a generous term, considering that the… being in front of her had no eyebrows of any variety), before it looked Jodie up and down. He then looked over to the blue tentacle head, who just shrugged sympathetically. His expression slowly shifted to one of surprise, though, as he took note of several things. Jodie was starting to feel vaguely uncomfortable being looked at in this way, and she figured Aiden could tell.

The being in front of her then pointed at the area around them. He said something that Jodie could not place, but he gestured around him again. Jodie briefly felt bad for whatever being it was that was gesticulating in front of her like this: she knew he must have felt so humiliated trying to communicate with someone she could not understand.

"Um… Where am I?" Jodie asked. "I… I don't know. I… How do you talk with her?" She gestured at the tentacle head for emphasis. "I mean, you're not even speaking the same language!"

The raptor shook his head, and then said something else. He pointed at a point on his head that Jodie assumed were the being's ears. She could not see any outward ears, but looking at everybody all around her and the noticeable lack of visible ears, she guessed it was standard that ears were a little embedded. He tapped that twice, and then he pointed at Jodie and said something else. When he said this, he pointed at himself, and then said something, but the words he used were very similar to what he had told her just a few seconds ago.

Jodie frowned. "You… You can understand me," she said. "I guess I can see that now, but I…" She shakes her head. "Look, this is getting nowhere. I'm lost, I have no idea where to go, and I don't know how to talk to anyone here. If you don't know how I can get help, then…"

But the raptor simply pointed at his ear again. He then beckoned her to get a little closer, as if inviting her to see inside his ear.

Jodie took a harsh intake of breath inwards, and then she walked over to the raptor-thing. She then leaned forward, looking at where he was pointing to see that, attached to some part of his head, was some strange-looking device. It had an audio receptacle of some sort, and was about the size of an SD card, if that. She blinked, looking at the raptor in front of her…

_There's_ no  _way that's true_ … she thought as she looked at the raptor in disbelief.

"You… That's translating what I'm telling you?" Jodie asked.

At that, the raptor-looking thing nodded, and the two stick-looking things on the side of its face widened in a kind of smile. He then pointed at himself, back to Jodie, and then back to where that little earpiece that was on his body. He then pointed in a random direction with his thumb, saying something more before pointing to his earpiece and then to her.

Jodie could only blink.  _Well, **that**  would have been useful in Somalia_, she briefly thought. She then felt a chill rush down her spine, and she could only shake her body before looking back at the spiky man.

"I should get one?" she asked. "I… I guess that's true. It would save me so much trouble, but… You're not suggesting you get it for me, are you?"

The raptor could only nod at Jodie's question.

The young woman started slightly. "Oh… Oh no," she said. "I... I couldn't trouble you with that. It's my responsibility, and…"  _and Aiden could get involved, and that probably won't end well for anyone_ , she had to bite back. Aiden probably heard her thoughts anyway, but to say that out loud would have been weird, she knew.

The tentacle-head said something in her silky language, though. When Jodie looked at her, she noticed that the tentacle-head was nodding, pointing at the spiky man. The spiky man nodded, offering his hand to her.

Jodie only looked at the tentacle head. "So… Do you need me for anything else, or is this all resolved?" she asked.

The tentacle-head waved her hand out in a motion that seemed to cut the air. Jodie sighed in relief.  _Finally, a gesture I recognize,_ she thought.

In turn, Jodie nodded. "Oh, okay then." She then turned to the spiky man, and sighed. "Well, I guess I better get one of those translators so… sure." She then took the raptor's hand.

The strange raptor nodded to the blue woman, and then he walked out of there, Jodie following behind. She glanced back at the blue woman as she turned back to her desk, and then she allowed herself to be led by this strange raptor to some place.

Jodie could only imagine Aiden was hovering around this raptor, ready to strike if it turned out he was a less than savory character. She could hardly blame Aiden: he had been right about such situations before, and Aiden was usually very,  _very_ good about defending Jodie from harm. But considering the spiky man's body language when he talked with the tentacle-head, Jodie suspected that Aiden would not need to step in.

And so, she let out a comfortable breath, eventually falling into step behind the raptor.

* * *

The raptor, seemingly true to his word, took her to a shop with a couple of patrons inside. Jodie noticed various items on the wall, and from the way they were packaged she guessed that it was an electronics store of some kind. It was mostly gloves and earpieces, though, and they were certainly nothing like anything she had ever seen before. But she was led in, and the raptor-looking thing began talking to one of the frog-like aliens that was situated behind the counter. He gestured to her as he let go of her wrist, and Jodie noticed the frog-thing looking at her with round, buggy eyes.

A few chills ran down her spine as she saw this, but soon enough her attention was drawn to the various earpieces, all of them in  _very_ different shapes and sizes. There were even some that were closer to the size of the notebooks she used to bring on missions, though she had a feeling it was less for memory storage and more for something else. As she looked, she turned to the other objects in the store, which all looked like gloves with electronics on them. It reminded her briefly of something out of a sci-fi movie about computers, if it had come to life and were commonplace. Jodie surmised this must have been the source of the holograms around people's arms, and suddenly she found herself wondering just how far technology had advanced. She had never been great with computers to begin with, but the fact that she had to get used to so much new technology was alarming.

She was interrupted when the raptor who had brought her there tapped her on the shoulder. Startled, she turned to the raptor, and then noticed the frog person was gesturing for her to sit in a nearby chair. She looked at the shopkeeper nervously as he made some kind of remark that was spoken in a much more hurried language than the raptor's, and then back at the chair.

Jodie sighed immediately as she saw the earpiece in the frog-man's hand. "Sorry, I just got a bit distracted," she said as she walked over to the chair. "I've been feeling a bit jumpy lately."

The salarian made another remark as she sat down, removing the earpiece from its packaging and getting close to her ear. Jodie could almost see Aiden hovering around her protectively, ready to strike if it turned out they were being played. Jodie, thankfully, was a little more trusting, and she looked over at the raptor-like thing as he looked over at the frog person. Soon enough, Jodie felt the frog-man's hands take hold of her ear gently, and then the earpiece was slid into place.

Jodie did not expect the frog-man's hands to be as clean as they were, but the fact that they only felt cold and smooth as opposed to cold, smooth, and slimy was a welcome relief for her.

The raptor-looking thing looked at Jodie, and then brought one of his hands to his wrist, simulating pinching. Jodie glanced to the side as the frog man put the finishing touches on the ear piece…

…and then she let out a bit of a squeal as she felt something pinch her just behind the ear. It was only a pinch, but the sensation that flooded behind her ear seemed several magnitudes of pain worse than that. Her hand went up to that earpiece immediately, and then she looked down as the pinch began to subside.

"Ow, that kind of hurt…" Jodie said. "I just… ow..."

She then looked up as the raptor-thing began to speak. However, as he spoke…

"...lation...ime to... no, I… we go… be kicking in any… All right, and I think that should do it," he finished off as Jodie's eyes widened in surprise.

Jodie felt her heartbeat spike a little bit. "I… I can understand you now," Jodie replied breathlessly.

The raptor thing nodded. "And that, my friend, is the great thing about the universal translator," he replied in a deep voice filled with luscious subharmonics that she had never heard in a human's voice. He chuckled, and then shook his head. "Seriously, how haven't you heard of one of those before?"

"I'm sorry," Jodie replied. "I just… I don't really know where I am. One moment I'm somewhere on Earth, and then the next I'm here on this station, and…"

"Oh, it's one of  _those_ kinds of stories." She turned to the frog-man, noticing that his voice was rather quick. "Some human gets somewhere, wakes up on the Citadel, doesn't know where she is…"

"Hey, calm down," the raptor replied. "Not all humans get like that. She's probably just overwhelmed."

"You can say that again," Jodie said. She crossed her arms. "But... well, I also did live a somewhat...  _sheltered_ life..."

"You did, huh?" The raptor crossed his arms and looked at Jodie. "I guess I can see that." He looked at the human. "Are you all right? I bumped into you pretty hard."

"I'm fine," Jodie said, chuckling nervously as she stood up. She then frowned. "Nothing's broken, so..."

The raptor nodded. "Yeah, tha's a good thing..." he replied. He then glanced sheepishly to the side. "I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going, and I thought I didn't have as much time as I did, so... Sorry for bumping into you." He looked down, and then paused. "And thanks for returning my stuff."

Jodie nodded. "It's fine," she said. "I'm just glad you got your ID back."

The spiky man looked at her strangely. "My ID?" he asked. "I mean, this has my identification on it, but it's not an ID."

Jodie then tilted her head to the side. "It's not?" she asked. "Then… then what is it?"

"It's a credit chit," he said. "Basically, you just got all my money back to me."

Jodie's hair stood on end for a split second from the shock. "I… Holy shit!" She leaned back, looking at the strange alien man in surprise. "Wow…" She said. She then chuckled nervously. "I didn't know most wallets could do that!"

The spiky man looked at her. "Well, that doesn't surprise me now," he said. "I guess it's true when you've got a sheltered person coming onto the Citadel for the first time." He then flashed a confident smile at Jodie that faded just as quickly as it had appeared. "Just a pro-tip, ma'am: chits are everywhere these days."

"It certainly seems that way," Jodie replied. "I... I guess it's a good thing I brought it to the law enforcement."

"Indeed," the frog-thing mentioned as he walked up to some holographic computer-looking thing. "You're lucky you met him, too. Most turians would've gone on a racist diatribe about politics and speed and humans being rash and uncouth. Or, worse, they would've just accused you of stealing their chit." He chuckled, gesturing straight at the raptor. "But I know  _that_  turian well enough that he wouldn't do that."

Jodie turned to the raptor like thing, and assumed that he was what the frog-man had called a turian.  _Turian_ , she thought.  _Okay… Well, at least I know what they're called now._

"I guess it's good you do," Jodie replied. She then turned to the turian, nodding quickly. "Thank you for the… um… translator. This is... this is going to make life a lot easier."

"Don't worry about it," said the turian. "I'm just glad you're not stumbling around unable to understand people. Trust me, I've been there before. It's not fun." He held out a hand immediately. "Well, since we're at this point, I guess introductions are in order. I'm Xerxes Garkaran."

Jodie looked at the outstretched hand, and then back at the turian as he smiled at her. Jodie couldn't help but smile back, looking at Xerxes as she took his hand and gave it a firm shake.

"I'm… I'm Jodie. Jodie Holmes," she replied.

"Jodie, huh?" Xerxes flashed her a smile. "Lovely name."

"Um… thanks," Jodie said. She glanced to the side awkwardly. "I'm sorry I don't have anything to pay you with. If I did, I'd—"

"Oh, don't worry about that," said Xerxes as he handed the frog-man a strange little chip-looking thing to the shopkeeper. "Think of it as payment for getting my chit back to me."

"I…. I see," Jodie said. "But are you sure? I mean, we only just met, and we barely know anything about each other, and—"

"It's fine, really," Xerxes replied as he held his hand up. "Besides, I doubt that you have enough to pay for even one omni-tool here considering that you just got to the Citadel. Let me handle it."

Jodie looked in bewilderment as Xerxes took his chip-looking thing back from the frog. "I… I see…" she said. "Thank you."

"Anytime," said Xerxes. He then looked at Jodie intently. "You said you were a little lost?"

"I… Yes," said Jodie. "I've never been off of Earth before."

"Most humans that've been there all their lives get a bit lost on their first time here," Xerxes replied. He nodded, looking right at her. "Do you need any help acclimating? Because if you really want, I can take some time to talk about this place." He glanced to the side. "Honestly, it's the least I can do for bumping into you like that."

Jodie blinked. "I… I guess I do." she said. She then looked at one of the elastic band cubes as Xerxes took it off the counter and handed it to her. "I think I'll take you up on that. Why not?"

Xerxes nodded as Jodie took the package. "Great," he said. He nodded in the direction of the frog man. "Thanks, Selvath."

"Anytime, Xerxes," the frog-man replied as he returned to his terminal.

Jodie turned back to Xerxes as he began walking out of the shop. She followed rather quickly, wondering if Aiden was all right with this. Aiden had learned to remain in the background unless Jodie was in danger, but at the present moment, Jodie did not exactly feel threatened. Oh, she would fight if the going went really bad, but she did not forsee Xerxes doing anything really terrible to her.

And so, she looked at the turian. "So, the Citadel…" Jodie replied. "I take it it's an important place…"

"Very important," said Xerxes. "It's the hub of much of the galaxy, Jodie." He then pointed at one of the things that Jodie had seen a hologram appear from every so often. "Avina's the best thing to go to if you want more information about the Citadel itself. I take it you're less experienced in the realm of the whole galaxy, though."

Jodie blinked.  _This whole galaxy is inhabited?_  she thought.  _Well, I guess that explains all these other things, then_.

"You could say that," Jodie replied, looking around. "I think I could use a slight refresher course, actually. It's overwhelming getting used to things here."

"Of course," said Xerxes. "I happen to know a quiet spot that I can use to that end. Come on."

And with this, the turian walked forward. Jodie slowed a little, looking at him as he walked right through the crowd. She thought about how crazy her life had become since she first woke up in that alleyway. There were all the aliens, there was Xerxes, there was the wrist computer she had in the container.

She shook her head, taking the little wrist-thing out of the packaging as she filed in behind Xerxes.  _Well, I guess it can't hurt,_  she thought.  _I could use a major primer to this place…_

* * *

Jodie flexed her left hand again, getting used to the strange glove-like electronic component she now had on her hand. As she flexed this hand, she looked out at the Citadel from the bench she sat on. She had not really taken the time to see what she now knew as the Citadel all that much earlier, but since Xerxes was explaining the place to her she found herself paying attention. When she had the time to take a step back and look at the scenery, she realized that she was in a place that was rather wondrous to behold. The view of the rest of the Citadel was rather great from where she sat, and she could tell that Xerxes was familiar enough with the view that he had no problems sharing it with anyone at all. She wondered just how much there was to the place, and how long it would take her to see the whole thing.

See the whole thing. That was something she realized that she had the luxury to do. Being warped into the future, she postulated that the CIA she knew was no more. Thus, she was finally free; therefore, it followed that she could do whatever she wished. Of course, there were still the consequences to deal with, but she did not have to worry about anyone watching her every move anymore. That thought especially made her feel rather liberated. Even though she knew that she was in a strange world that would take getting used to, she had the feeling she could get used to it quickly enough since she was free from any kind of agenda.

And while all this was going through her head, Xerxes was giving her a primer of the geography of the Citadel.

"And that, Jodie, is the Presidium." Xerxes pointed at the ring that the five wards were connected to. "That's where most of the upper-class people go."

"Really?" Jodie asked, leaning forward. "So, government officials?"

"And a couple other kinds of people, yes," said Xerxes. "Now, that doesn't mean that it's off limits to everyone else. Anyone can come and go on there as they wish. I just hope you get a lot of credits by then."

"I guess. I mean, with all the government officials there…" Jodie frowned, turning her attention to the grey ring. "It looks like a really boring place, though."

The turian chuckled. "Don't let the ring of grey deceive you," he said. "The Presidium is actually a rather lovely place. It's the only place on the whole station with an artificial day-night cycle, actually, and it has all these parks and monuments and other things like that."

"Really?" Jodie said. "So why does it look so boring from here?"

"Well, it  _is_ enclosed," Xerxes replied. "Mostly, anyway. You can only really get into it through a bunch of elevators from various points on the Citadel. Or, failing that, there are specific rapid transit routes that go through there." He then nodded. "But it's actually a lot nicer than one glance at the exterior can tell you. Trust me, Jodie; I work there."

Jodie blinked. "You do?" she asked. "That must be nice."

"It is," he says. "The Presidium is really a good place to go for my line of work. It's where all the rich people go, anyway, so…"

Jodie frowned, looking at the turian as she shifted her position. "And what  _is_ your line of work?" she asked.

"Me?" Xerxes said. "I'm an information broker."

Jodie was taken off-guard by this, as her slight shift away from Xerxes showed. "An information broker?" she asked. "And you're in the Presidium?"

"Yes," Xerxes replied. "I'm part of a smaller information firm."

"So why go there?" Jodie asked.

"Well, us information brokers have tended to go where the money flows over the past several years," Xerxes supplied. "If the Shadow Broker has taught us anything, it's that the best business is for the highest bidder."

And there, Jodie frowned. "The Shadow Broker?" she asked. "He sounds like a big person in your field."

"That's  _quite_  the understatement," said Xerxes. "The Shadow Broker is ruthless and mysterious, but I'll be damned if he isn't the best in his profession. I don't know how he does it, but he's got all the dirty secrets of the galaxy at his fingertips. If it's a dirty secret, he's got it. If it can start a war in eight minutes, he's got it. And he only sells to the highest bidder."

Jodie shuddered at the thought, and briefly she imagined Aiden reacting in much the same way.  _I'll have to remember to be careful, then,_  she thought.  _Who knows what'd happen if this guy found out about Aiden…_

"I see…" Jodie said. "But you don't work for him, right?"

"Oh, I very much do," said Xerxes in an obviously joking tone. "In fact, I shine his shoes every morning. Best way to climb up the ladder, really."

Jodie chuckled at this, put back at ease again. "Heh, I'll be he likes to kick his clients in the face," she said.

"Only if he's in the wrong mood," the turian fired back. "Which he rarely is, but you never know." He then chuckled himself. "But no, in all seriousness, I don't work for the Shadow Broker. And I certainly wouldn't shine his shoes. In fact, since nobody sees the Shadow Broker in person, I don't think he actually hires  _anyone_ to shine his shoes."

The human leaned forward. "Really?" she asked. "So we don't see what he is, and people trust him?"

"His information is never wrong, and he's able to get secrets straight from the top of any government food chain," Xerxes replied. "If your information is impeccable like the Shadow Broker's, you don't really need to see his face." He shakes his head. "But no, I don't work for him. Our information is not up to that level of 'if the galaxy finds out it could cause a war'. Mostly it's background checks for very high-profile clients, especially when it comes to embassy work." He shook his head. "It's a lot more boring than it sounds, really."

Jodie shook her head, looking up at the sky. "Sometimes, having a boring life isn't as bad as it sounds," she said vaguely. She then looked to Xerxes. "I take it there are no opportunities for me there."

"Probably not," said the turian. "What sort of skills do you have?"

Jodie sighed. "Not many," she admitted. "Perhaps the best thing I've got is that I can fight, but I don't know how useful that'll be."

"Well, that depends," Xerxes replied as he leaned forward. "I can't see you working for C-SEC anytime soon, but I'm willing to bet there are some people that need protection. If there's any more advice I can give, I'll say that I wouldn't recommend working for mercs. Merc activity tends to lean on the side of the illegal."

"Hm…" Jodie looked up at the ceiling of the ward. "I guess I'll think of something. In the meantime, I need somewhere to stay." She looked over to Xerxes. "And before you say anything; no, I'm not staying with you. I'm just some girl who returned your wallet to you."

"Yeah, it would be weird if you suddenly shacked up with me, wouldn't it?" Xerxes asked. He then leaned towards Jodie, nodding his head slowly. "There should be a couple of shelters on the Citadel," he replies. "If you want, I can point you in the right direction." He leaned back. "Besides, it's probably the better option anyway. You can start a paper trail over there, and on a place like this, a paper trail is your best friend."

Jodie nodded. "I'll keep that in mind," she said. She sighed, and then looked up. "Well, I have to say, this is quite the change of—"

Jodie was interrupted by the sound of Xerxes' omni-tool pinging. He sat up immediately, quickly opening the omni-tool. Jodie found herself mesmerized as the orange hologram appeared around his arm again, and she watched as he read some message in a script she did not recognize. She nodded, looking away as Xerxes swore under his breath.

"Dammit, I have to run back to work now," he said. "Sorry." He then moved his fingers across his omni-tool, and before long Jodie heard her own omni-tool ping. She looked at it, tentatively touching the holographic display. When it failed to do anything upon first touch, she attempted it again, this time allowing her finger to sink into the display. This successfully opened the omni-tool, and then she saw a message come up similar to what Xerxes had just received.

"Good, you've synched up the omni-tool stuff correctly," he says. He then nodded. "At any rate, with that text, you should be in touch with me from here on out. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call."

Jodie stood up at the same time Xerxes did, the turian holding out his hand again. Jodie shook it, smiling. "Thank you," she said. "I'll be sure to take you up on that."

"Indeed," said Xerxes. "That message I just sent should point you to the nearest shelter. Stay safe, Jodie."

"You too, Xerxes," Jodie replied. "And thanks. I know you didn't need to do any of this, so... thanks."

"Any time, Jodie," Xerxes replied. "You take care."

And with this, the turian walked over to a… rapid transit station. That's what Xerxes had told her it was, anyway. She found the concept of an on-demand taxi service rather nice, but at the moment she had other things there. She stood by the bench, watching as he called one of those flying cars she had seen earlier over. He then waited as a flying car came in and opened, and she noticed briefly that the car did not seem to have a driver. As soon as he stepped into the flying car, the doors closed, and then the car whisked him off in the direction of the ring that she knew as the Presidium.

She nodded, turning away. "Okay," she whispered. "So I know where to find the shelter, and I guess that's where I'll start thinking…"

Jodie then looked up. "But first, Aiden, I think we're overdue for finding out as much about this place as possible," she said.

The entity hummed, and then Jodie nodded in reply. "Okay. Let's go to one of those Avina terminals and see what we can see."

And with this, she walked off in the direction of an Avina terminal.

* * *

Jodie opened her omni-tool, frowning as she looked over an internet article about human-batarian relations.

_No no, it's extranet here,_  she thought.  _Extranet._  She shook her head at the internal confusion before reading on.

It was a rather interesting thing to read, actually. At least then she could be pretty well caught up on galactic events. Already she had read quite a bit about the history of human-turian relations, and how rocky that had been. She had to figure that the turians were likely in the wrong, but she didn't know enough to make a real judgment call. Xerxes had seemed like a nice enough guy, so she figured that not all turians were bad.

Besides, reading up on that passed the time she spent in the shelter's waiting room. She had managed to find the shelter well enough, but since Jodie needed to get paperwork sorted it was taking quite a bit longer than usual. She had already been through most of the interview process to get much of the paperwork, so now it was a matter of waiting for the paperwork to get through. The secretary had warned her it would take a while, though, so she took the time to get herself better acquainted with the strange world she had been unceremoniously dropped in. And there was a  _lot_ to catch up on.

Jodie read on, looking at the section on what was called the Skyllian Blitz. Her eyes fell upon a name, a human name, obviously. John Shepard, it was. It seemed he was important to the Blitz, as he had somehow managed to single-handedly fend off the batarian invasion of that colony. Jodie briefly wondered how a single man could possibly have done that. Granted, she knew how it was to be able to do things with no back-up, but this was an invasion that he staved off. How would he have been able to do it?

She shook her head, and continued reading on into the history of their affairs. But then she noticed that the name came up  _again_ when it discussed something about an assault on Torfan. He was present at that, too, and from what she was able to gather he was rather saintly about it, if the mention of rumors that he prevented mass assassinations against the batarian prisoners of war was anything. There was even a mention about how he had somehow invented a kind of hologram technology that allowed the Alliance to weather through the assault with minimal casualties.

She glanced up at where she assumed Aiden was, before turning her attention back to the article. Nobody else could hear it, but Jodie heard Aiden's clicks that indicated that he too found it difficult to believe that such a truly perfect man could exist.

_Next you'll expect me to believe that I'll be working with him_ , she thought.

She continued to read on, turning her attention to a section about the cause of such a thing. As she read on, she couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed, even more than she already felt. She had learned how to adjust to really bad situations rather quickly, but the sheer scale of what she was involved was only just beginning to occur to her. What sort of place had she been dumped in? And what would happen once she was let loose?

She glanced up at Aiden again.  _I've got a feeling we're here for a reason,_  Jodie thought.  _You think so, Aiden?_

Aiden only let out a series of clicks in reply. That was all Jodie needed to hear, before she turned her attention back to her—

"Miss Holmes?"

Jodie looked up at the tentacle-headed clerk that she had spoken with.  _No no, **asari** , _she thought.  _Asari._

"Is the paperwork ready?" Jodie asked.

"Yes," she said. "If you will come right this way, we will get that taken care of."

Jodie nodded, standing up and closing the window of her omni-tool's extranet browser. She then followed the clerk into a back room somewhere, where Jodie assumed she would find the first piece of identification she would get in this galaxy.

* * *

"Okay… Room 116. Looks like this is it, Aiden."

Aiden chirped in agreement as Jodie stood in front of a door. It looked like an overly large version of the doors that she might have seen on  _Star Trek_ at one point in her life. There was a red hologram in the front, and Jodie looked at the key card that she held in her hand. She continued looking at the door for a few seconds more, before she chuckled.

"I can't believe they still use a numbering system like this even in the future," she muttered cheerfully to herself. "Almost makes me feel at home." She then breathed in, looking at the card in her hands. "Well, here goes nothing."

She then passed the card through a small opening to the side of the door. The holographic panel in front of her then color shifted to green, and Jodie took that as a cue that the door was open. And with a single gesture of her left arm, Jodie opened the door.

She was greeted by an unusual sight. The room itself was rather unremarkable, as it looked like a small sterilized room with two beds on it and no desk. Literally, it had the bare necessities to be habitable. Jodie already knew the showers were communal, and she had been warned there were no desks, but she was still surprised by how overly clean it looked.

However, that did not surprise her  _nearly_ as much as the person that was already lying on one of the beds. Jodie noticed that it was what looked like a slim-framed man who was wearing a strange variety of suit that completely covered his body. This man also had a strangely-formed body, with legs that curved in an odd way, feet with only two toes, hands that only had three fingers… And it wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for the fact that he had a visor on which covered his face. The suit also had tubes going every which way, though Jodie noticed that most of them seemed to travel to his head. The suit itself had some embroidered cloth at some points, and Jodie found herself strangely reminded of her trip to Somalia in the way that the red and gold swirls within the fabric seemed to cling on to whatever dirt was nestled in between the fibers.

As soon as she entered, the stranger's helmet turned towards her, and she saw two little lights peer at her. She guessed from the way he sat up as soon as he saw this that the two little lights were his eyes. He then looked at her, letting out a yawn as he stretched his arms.

"Huh, a new roommate already?" he asked as soon as he was settled at the edge of the bed. As Jodie noticed that he seemed to be given a strange kind of Arabic accent via the translator, the strange new alien looked at her. "And it's a human, too. This day just keeps getting more and more interesting."

Jodie chuckled. "You should've seen  _me_  a couple hours ago," she replied. She then stepped in, looking at the strange alien before her. "Days that begin with waking up on the Citadel can be interesting. Especially when you don't know how you got here."

The strange alien blinked as she sat down on the nearby bed. "So you're new here?" he asked.

"Pretty much," Jodie replied. She then looked at the alien, and then extended her hand out to him. "Sorry. I'm Jodie. Jodie Holmes."

The alien looked at her, and then extended his own hand. "Kalo'Veera nar Idenna."

Jodie looked at him awkwardly, and then noticed that he hadn't moved to grasp her hand in anyway. She blinked uncertainly, waiting for him to move closer. After a few seconds, she shook her head, and then took his hand herself, shaking it rather quickly.

"Good to meet you," Jodie said. She briefly heard the door shut, and then looked at her new companion. "I haven't seen anything like you around here."

"Well, quarians are a rare sight around these parts," Kalo replied, looking to the wall before turning his attention back to Jodie.

Jodie nodded. "I guess so," she said. "But I don't know. Until today, I've never seen any other alien either."

"Oh." Kalo sat up slightly, looking at Jodie with his head tilted to the side. "So you were in the same boat as me a year or so back, then."

Jodie turned to look at Kalo. "Really?" she asked.

"Kind of," said Kalo as he shifted. "Except for the whole thing that we quarians do not really have a homeworld anymore."

Jodie leaned forward, curiosity coming to her expression. "You don't have a homeworld?" she asked.

"No," said Kalo. He shrugged. "It is a long story. I am surprised you do not actually know it."

"Well, I mean, I didn't know what a turian was when I first got here, so that shows you what I know," Jodie said sardonically.

"Jack and shit," Kalo replied. He then held his hands up, almost as if trying to defend himself. "Um, no offense."

Jodie shook her head, smiling a little. "Oh, no... No, it's fine," she replied. "It's true, anyway. And really, I could use the people calling me on it, so..." She then looked at Kalo. "So if you don't have a homeworld, what  _do_ you have?"

"One of the biggest fleets in the galaxy," Kalo replied. He then looked at Jodie. "Everyone calls it the Migrant Fleet, even us. And that is where quarians stay for most of their lives. Unless we leave for Pilgrimage. In which case..."

Jodie nodded. "I see…" she said. "So yours is a special case."

"Kind of," Kalo replied. "My Pilgrimage has taken unusually long, but we all have to do it at some point."

"And what do you do on this Pilgrimage?" Jodie asked.

"Well, we go around the galaxy, looking for something of worth to bring back to the Fleet. Most of the time it is a ship that we bring back, but there are other things that can do as a Pilgrimage gift." He shook his head, looking up. "I am trying to bring a ship back, but every time I have the money to get one I have to keep working at jobs just to afford it. And then the job hunt gets harder and harder." He shakes his head. "I  _swear_ they are doing it on purpose."

Jodie tilted her head to the side. "But they can't do that, can they?" she asked.

"They just do it anyway," Kalo replied. "People do  _not_  exactly like quarians around here."

Jodie leaned forward. "Why's that?" she asked.

"Well, it is related to why we live on a Migrant Fleet," he said. "It was a mistake in our past. I am guessing you have never heard of the Morning War?"

Jodie shook her head. "No," she replied. She then shook her head. "I'm sorry, I probably sound like an idiot."

"No no, it's fine," Kalo replied. "Humans only came to the galactic scene thirty years ago. The Morning War happened nearly  _three centuries_ ago."

Jodie blinked. "It happened that far back?" she asked, astonished.

"Yes," Kalo replied. "It happened three hundred years ago, and yet the quarians are  _still_ reeling from its effects." He sighed, pulling one of his legs close to him." The Morning War was a conflict between us and the geth."

"The geth?" Jodie leaned forward. "I read about that while waiting for paperwork to be sorted out. I…" She then leaned forward. "So that was the quarians that created them?"

"Yes," Kalo replied, pointing at Jodie.

And then, the rest of it clicked for Jodie. "The geth forced you off your own homeworld…"

"And there you go," Kalo replied. "And ever since, we have been wandering the stars looking for a new homeworld."

"A whole three hundred years…" Jodie looked at Kalo. "I'm so sorry."

"Do not be," he replied. "It was a mistake on our part." He shook his head. "But yes, the rest of the galaxy likes to rub that one mistake in our faces. I get the feeling this ship vendor keeps doing that to me for the ship."

"So why don't you tell anyone?" asked Jodie.

Kalo shakes his head. "Because C-SEC never questions him every time I bring them there," he says.

Jodie nodded, standing up and walking over to Kalo so she could sit next to him. "I'm sorry," she said. She then looked down at the ground. "Look, I… I don't have any dol—um…  _credits_  on me at the moment, but… well, if I get any, I'll see what I can do. You probably need the credits more than I do."

Kalo looked at Jodie, and she noticed that the lights behind the visor widened slightly. "You… you would do that for a complete stranger?" he asked, voice soft and in awe.

"Yeah," said Jodie. "I've been at the absolute worst point before. It sucks."

"It does, but…" He shook his head. "I cannot ask that of a complete stranger, especially not someone who is bad enough off that she is here."

Jodie smiled reassuringly, patting Kalo's shoulder lightly. "It's fine, really," she replied. "I've... I've lived in worse conditions than this. If worst comes to worst, I can just weather the storm."

Kalo nodded, his gaze turning to the floor. "Thank you," he said, his voice a little shaky. "That means a lot."

"Hey," she said. "Let's just say you and I are kind of similar in that way." She glanced up, casting a very brief smirk at Aiden before she turned her attention back to Kalo.

"Well, given that you have been at a bad point below, I do not doubt it," Kalo replied. He then looked at Jodie. "Are you talking about now?"

The human shook her head. "No," she replied. "I was once homeless on Earth.  _That_ is pretty bad, let me tell you."

Kalo nodded. "I see," he said. "Well…" He then chuckled nervously. "Here we are, talking about me with you offering to help pay for my Pilgrimage gift, and yet I do not know  _anything_ about you!"

Jodie chuckled. "You know my name, and you know I come from Earth," she replied.

"I do not think that is enough," Kalo replied. He then shifted on the bed. "How did you get to the Citadel, for instance?"

Jodie let out a soft laugh as she looked at Kalo. "Believe me, I wish  _I_  knew," she replied. "I literally just woke up in the Citadel. I don't remember how I got here, but… I know enough about the rest of my life." She then looked up. "I guess you could say that I probably got here because of bad luck."

"For you?" Kalo asked. "I find that hard to believe."

"You never can tell," she said. "I've had plenty of bad luck all my life." She looked at the quarian. "Some of it is something I'd rather not talk about."

Kalo nodded. "I understand."

"Thank you." Jodie nodded, grateful for Kalo's willingness not to overstep his bounds. She then coughed, and looked at Kalo. "So I guess we're in here for a while, huh?"

"I think so," Kalo replied. He nodded. "It is not a bad situation, I must say."

"I don't think so either," she said. She then looked up, hoping to God that Aiden was not going to act against him in any way. "Let's just hope it doesn't get too out of hand."

"I have a feeling it will not," said Kalo. He then looked at his omni-tool again. "Sorry, I was in the middle of something."

"Oh!" Jodie jumped up, immediately getting off the bed. "Sorry! I just got so—!"

"No no, it is fine," he replied. "I needed that. Thank you."

Jodie nodded. "I… You're welcome," she said. She then went over to her bed. "So what  _are_ you doing?"

"Well…"

* * *

Kalo had fallen asleep rather easily that evening. This left Jodie a little time to stare at the ceiling, looking at where she assumed Aiden would be. She had read up further on the state of affairs of the galaxy, and other tidbits which would probably be important to her getting more fully integrated into the world around her. But first and foremost, there was the moment. And there was something refreshing about having a quiet bed for the first time in ages.

She sighed wistfully, looking up at where she thought Aiden was. "Well, here we are," she said, taking care to whisper it so it wouldn't wake Kalo up. "Strangers in a strange land. This is quite a change from a DPA facility, isn't it Aiden?"

Aiden clicked a bit, and Jodie smiled in response. "Yeah, no surveillance," she said. "Except for maybe that Shadow Broker guy. We should be careful about him."

The entity clicked his agreement, and then Jodie heard him hover close by. Jodie turned on her bed, looking at the air in front of her. She noticed Kalo's sleeping form there, and immediately knew what Aiden was getting at.

Jodie sighed. "I know, Aiden," she said. "Don't worry, I plan on telling people. Just not at the first meeting. I mean, really, think of how awkward it would be if I said 'hi, my name is Jodie Holmes, and by the way I'm attached to a supernatural entity that nobody can see that calls itself Aiden, pleasure to meet you. Oh, and here are the keys to my asylum room so you can lock me back in there too'."

Aiden seemed to chuckle at this, even as Jodie's face took a more serious expression. "But honestly, Aiden, I'm a little worried," she said. "I just… I wanted to be like a normal person. But with all this…" She shook her head. "Now there's no way in hell that I'll ever be like normal people…" She sighed, looking up. "Oh well… At least I have you."

The entity seemed happy with this response. Jodie could tell, even if Aiden remained silent at Jodie's observation. Jodie had gotten to know Aiden well enough over the years to know what his mood would be at any given time, and that proved handy when it came to dealing with him. So for now, he was happy, and she would not have to worry about any objects flying across the room again.

And besides, she had meant it. Sure, Jodie had spent nearly all of her life wishing for a life without Aiden, but at the same time they had been through so much together. They had been through CIA training together, as well as a certain mission that she would  _never_ want to revisit if she could help it. They had been homeless together. They had fought entities together. Hell, they had even been through a childhood of being tormented by less well-intentioned entities together. Aiden might not have been Jodie's first choice for companionship in this strange new world, but considering that everyone else she knew had been left behind…

Jodie paused, and grabbed an object from the breast pocket of her leather jacket. She stared at the US passport that had her would-be new identity emblazoned within. It was probably stupid of her to attach sentiment to an object that would have reminded her of a final betrayal that occurred just before everything had gone awry at the Black Sun facility, but she found it difficult to care. After all, it was the last thing that Nathan had ever given her, and it would probably be the last reminder she ever had of a life that was now completely beyond her reach.

_Nathan…_  she thought as she thumbed through the passport's pages. She sighed, looking up.  _I hope you're resting in peace now… And I hope… I hope to_ God  _I succeeded in closing the Black Sun. If I wound up in a place like this and the Infraworld still took over the real world…_

She shook her head, putting the passport back in the pocket. She couldn't bring herself to think of the implications involved with that. She just hoped that her sacrifice had been worth it. If she would be denied a normal life back home, she could hope that everyone else was able to live theirs out without the meddling of the Infraworld.

Jodie sighed. "Well, Aiden, rest up," she whispered. "Knowing our luck, we'll probably be pulled into some  _other_ adventure in the near future."

With this, Jodie pulled the covers over her, and she closed her eyes. Visions of people she had met during her life flashed before her eyes, and it was on this note that Jodie slowly drifted off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As soon as Jodie woke up the next morning, she found that she was actually quite hungry. She was thankful for the fact that the shelter provided food, and she was also grateful for the place to stay. Unfortunately, Kalo hadn't been in the room when she woke up, and she hadn't seen him in the food service area either, so she assumed that he was away doing... whatever it was quarians on Pilgrimage did. So she was left to eat in silence. Thankfully, this allowed her to catch up with galactic news, and any opportunity to do that was a good thing as far as she was concerned.

But alas, she had to go out to the Citadel to find some way of living. So out she was, walking around amidst the crowd. She had to admit, it still felt strange to see so many aliens milling about everywhere. However, that day she felt significantly better about walking around, for at least now she could understand everything going on around her.

And so, she went along with the crowd, taking in all the sights. It was almost strange that she-

"Well, if it isn't the accidental racist."

Jodie paused, looking immediately behind her. The voice had sounded familiar, and yet it sounded twisted by the fact that the voice was now spewing English.

Jodie turned around, and then beheld the asari that she had met at the desk of the C-SEC establishment she saw. She looked rather much the same no-nonsense person she had seen last time, but this time Jodie noticed that she had a pistol attached to her hip. Jodie looked at her as the asari stepped forward, crossing her arms.

"Oh... Uh... hi," Jodie said, her foot twitching nervously. "It's you again."

"It is indeed," the asari replied, crossing her arms. "I see you're here without your turian friend again."

Jodie nodded. "Yeah, I am," she said. She then pointed at her ear. "He actually did end up getting me that translator. And an omni-tool." Jodie opened the tool, and she watched as the orange hologram appeared around her arm. "It's... different."

The asari nodded. "Well, that's Xerxes for you," she said. "He's a nice guy, really, but I keep telling him he can be  _too_ nice sometimes." She looked up at me. "I didn't tell him what you said about turians, but I probably should've."

Jodie shrugged, looking at the asari. "I... I'm sorry," she said. "Before I came here, I kind of lived a...  _sheltered_ life." Jodie shuddered a little bit at her own white lie, before looking up at the asari. "Honestly, I...  _probably_ didn't do my research very well. I just... I'm sorry."

"Well, I'm not accepting apologies on behalf of the whole turian race, so you'll have to take that up with them," the asari replied. "But it's a start." She then held her hand out. "Sura T'lonya."

Jodie looked at the asari for a few seconds before holding her own hand out. "Jodie Holmes," she replied. She then looked up at the officer as they parted. "So what did you call me out here for?"

"To make sure you're okay," said the asari. "Normally, I don't take requests, but when Xerxes personally asked me to look after you, I couldn't say no."

Jodie rose her eyebrow. "You and him know each other?" she asked.

"I've seen him around from time to time," Sura replied. "When you've seen a person enough times, you start to know who he is and a little bit about what he's like." She looked to the side. "I never thought I'd be friends with an information broker, but he's just that nice a guy."

"You don't trust them?" Jodie asked.

"You never can tell with some of them," said Sura. "Some information brokers tend to make your job harder than it needs to be when you're a beat cop." She shrugged. "But Xerxes isn't part of the Shadow Broker's network, so it's fine." She then looked at Jodie intently. "But anyway, he asked me to keep an eye out for you. So just don't get into any trouble and we're good." She then pointed a finger at Jodie. "Also, don't call turians spiky again."

Jodie sighed. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?" she asked.

"Nope," Sura replied simply. "Anyway, I'm on patrol right now, so I shouldn't stay too long. If you need anything, I tend to spend most of my time in this ward."

Jodie nodded. "Thank you," she said. She then crossed her arms, looking ahead. "I'm going to go continue looking for some way to get employment."

"Good luck with that," Sura replied. "And be careful."

With this, the asari turned, and she walked away from Jodie to look at another part of the Citadel.

Jodie shrugged and turned on her heel, looking up at the ceiling. As she began to walk away, Aiden let out a smooth whoosh sound.

She could only nod in agreement. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," she said. "Scout ahead, and let me know if there's anything of interest."

And with this, Jodie walked on, glancing to the right and left a few times as she searched for some method of income.

* * *

Eventually, after quite some time walking, she came across a marquee she couldn't quite recognize. Well... she thought of it as a marquee anyway, because she couldn't think of what else to refer to the shop's sign as. Either way, she looked up at the sign, noticing that it blinked out slightly. When the light remained constant after a few seconds, she shook her head.

"Aiden, now's not the time," she said, crossing her arms as she looked at the sign. "I mean, point me to it, but don't take out the whole goddamn sign!"

Even despite her attempt at being stern, she smiled very softly at this, and then turned her attention to the storefront. When she did, she noticed a few musical items on the front. Among other things, though, she recognized an acoustic guitar in the storefront, and a few holographic signs advertising things like sales on used instruments and other items.

Jodie looked at Aiden. "Heh, I guess you've got a point there," she mentioned.

Jodie thought back to the times she had used a guitar. The guitar had been one of the few things Jodie was able to keep up throughout her life, even if she had managed to get massively out-of-practice after being recruited into the CIA by Ryan. Even as a little girl she had some interest in the instrument, even if it was only on the small little bastardized versions of it. Either way, it hadn't really come in handy.

Well, not until she found herself stranded in the middle of some large city in the middle of a freezing cold winter, anyway. She had found a guy with a guitar who had frozen his fingers trying to play it. She needed the money rather badly, and when the man with the guitar offered to let Jodie do what she could with it, she jumped at the chance to play again. Several songs later, and she had walked away with enough to feed both herself and about four other mouths.

And if it paid that well in an environment that was cold enough to almost cause her death by hypothermia...

Jodie exhaled. "Yeah, this could work," she said to herself. She then looked at her newly-gained credit chit. "But I don't have anything on this, so I can't buy anything." She sighed, looking at Aiden. "So what do we do?"

Aiden remained pretty quiet in response. Jodie didn't like it when Aiden stayed quiet, because that usually meant that he was up to no good. She feared that he was going to do something reckless, and then that would never end well for anybody. But she remained silent, looking down at her chit in dismay.

And then, she felt the chit vibrate quite a bit. Jodie jumped in surprise, almost dropping the item in her shock. She looked at the air around her for a few seconds, before turning her attention to the chit, looking for the little display that told Jodie how many credits there were. When she finally found it, she saw that he amount of credits she had on it jumped from zero to about five hundred credits. It was not a big number, but...

Jodie let out a displeased sigh, crossing her arms and looking up at Aiden. Her brows were furrowed in frustration. "You know, Aiden, it defeats the point of getting work to stay in the shelter if you just hack into the chit and give me credits that don't exist," she said, careful to keep quiet in case someone happened to be eavesdropping on her. "People will know I haven't worked for that. What do you think they'll do when they find out I've somehow been getting money without working for it?"

In reply, Aiden chirped a little bit, Jodie's shoulders dropping slightly as she heard the entity go on in his own brand of speech. Jodie then turned to the shop display and saw that there was an advert for a particular price of guitar that seemed a little more prominent than the others. It then blinked several times, and that was when Jodie realized that Aiden had something to do with the hologram looking a little more brightly-lit than usual. She noticed that said price was about five hundred credits for a used guitar. Jodie then looked back to the chit, and back at the advertising, and sighed as the advertising faded slightly.

"I guess you have a point there," she said. "Fine. I'll let it go this time. But after this, you're not even  _touching_ my chit, got it?"

Aiden clicked once, a rather sharp sound that left little room to doubt what he meant.

"Good," said Jodie. She then inhaled and exhaled. "You better hope this works, Aiden. If they can tell that it's forged digital currency..."

She said nothing more about this, leaving Aiden to ponder the implications involved. With this said, Jodie stepped into the establishment, looking for whatever used guitar it was that was on sale.

* * *

Miraculously enough, Aiden's little credit hack worked, and Jodie was able to buy the guitar with no real issues. It did nothing to allay Jodie's anger, but it got her the guitar, and at the moment that was all she really needed.

"Okay, I have this," she said to herself, picking up the case that she now held in her hand. "So I've got that. But what do I do, and..."

Jodie glanced to the side, and then turned to her omni-tool hand. The specialized glove showed rather prominently, and then she thought back to...

"Xerxes..." She nodded, making her way to the nearest bench. "Of course." She then sat down, placing the guitar case against the bench. "I hope he's not busy right now..."

Jodie looked up at the air around her, before briefly flicking her middle finger slightly. When that failed, she sighed, looking right at the omni-tool glove. She then flicked her index finger, and immediately the orange hologram appeared. She breathed in and then brought her opposing hand up to her omni-tool. She touched a button, and-

Jodie sighed in frustration. "No," she said, looking to the upper-right hand corner of the hologram as she exited out of the random game she had opened. "That isn't where I wanted to go!"

She shook her head again, before touching the... button (though even she acknowledged that 'button' was not necessarily the best moniker for a non-physical object) that she wanted. She froze again, looking at all the contacts she had available to her. Of course, Xerxes' contact information would not be on the top, so she brought her finger up to the screen to scroll down, and-

-and then her finger lingered too long on one of the contacts, and suddenly she found herself quickly having to hit the cancel call "button" for the Citadel's emergency services.

She then breathed in and out nervously, looking up at the air around her. She took a few breaths to calm herself, and then closed her eyes. She brought her finger forward again, this time making sure to be a little quicker with it. When she opened her eyes, though, she found that the contacts list hadn't scrolled down at all. She frowned, and then brought her finger forward again, swiping it through the hologram and then retreating it instantly. It moved exactly an eighth of an inch, and Xerxes' name still did not show up at all.

Finally, Jodie sighed, slowly going into the hologram with her finger and slowly dragging her finger up. This time, the motion registered, and the omni-tool scrolled down to Xerxes' name. She sighed in relief, finally touching the call button and getting a hologram confirming that she had successfully started a call with Xerxes.

"And here I thought opening the extranet browser was hard," she said aloud. She let out a frustrated sigh, and then leaned back in the chair, letting the call app ring a little bit. She then sighed, looking ahead as she waited for-

" _Hello, welcome to Moskas and Briers. This is Xerxes speaking, how may I help you?_ "

Jodie smiled. "Hey Xerxes," she said. "I didn't know you gave me your work contact."

There was a brief pause at the other end of the line. " _Jodie!_ " Xerxes' voice seemed rather surprised. " _Is everything all right?_ "

"Well, I'm still getting used to the omni-tool, but other than that I'm fine," she said. "I made it into the shelter."

" _Oh, good, good._ " Jodie thought she could hear Xerxes' sigh. " _For a second, I thought you had called saying you needed to be bailed out of C-SEC for falling in the Presidium's_  lake."

Jodie paused, frowning. "Wait, there's a  _lake_ in the Presidium?" she asked.

" _Yeah,_ " said Xerxes. " _Wait, I didn't mention that?_ "

"No," Jodie replied.

" _Huh,_ " Xerxes commented. " _I thought I did..._ " He then gave a disappointed growl. " _Oh well, there goes a bad attempt at banter."_

"Well, I've heard worse, trust me," Jodie replied. She then shook her head. "No, I called because I needed to ask you something."

" _You do, huh?_ " Jodie heard the shifting of furniture. " _What do you need?_ "

"Well... I'm wondering," said Jodie. "I just recently got a guitar, and-"

" _A guitar?_ " Xerxes asked. " _As in, the human music thing?_ "

Jodie nodded. "Yeah," she replied.

" _Jodie, you didn't... you didn't_ steal  _it, did you?_ " Xerxes asked.

"Oh... Oh, no!" Jodie protested. "No, no, I didn't steal it. I'm not  _that_ desperate at the moment."

" _Oh, good._ " Xerxes seemed to sigh in relief, though Jodie could not tell what the electronicized brush of air was. " _Sorry, I didn't mean to judge._ " _  
_

"No no, it's... it's fine..." Jodie said.  _Trust me, there was one point where I would be that desperate..._  "No, but I wanted to ask... I was thinking of playing out in the street... unless people around here don't do that?"

" _What, like street performance?_ " Xerxes asked. " _No no, people do that on the Citadel too._ "

"They do?" Jodie asked. "So where would they go?"

" _The Tayseri Ward,_ " said Xerxes. " _Mostly, anyway._ "

"The Tayseri Ward?" Jodie repeated.

" _It's the... rich part of the Citadel,_ " Xerxes replied. " _Well, actually, 'rich' is a misnomer. It's where most of the culture happens on the Citadel. Plays, museums, concerts, musicology conferences... if it relates to the arts, it's there._ "

Jodie frowned. "Musicology?" she asked. "You mean people actually study music for more than just playing it?"

" _You'd be surprised,_ " said Xerxes. " _But no, aside from that, that's where all the art happens. But in all the times I've been, there have been street performers. I don't think you need a permit either, though if you're planning on using it to stay in the shelter you may have to go to produce some proof that you were in fact working there._ "

"Yeah, I figured that might be the case," she said. "What would I need?"

" _I'm not sure, but I could find out really quickly for you,_ " Xerxes said. " _It should only take about an hour of research, tops. Go ahead and do your thing, and I'll let you know what can be done about that._ " _  
_

Jodie nodded. "Thanks," she said. She paused, looking ahead of her. "I still think you're doing quite a bit for me when I'm just a stranger."

" _Well, you did return my stuff,_ " Xerxes said. " _As far as I'm concerned, that makes you a pretty good person._ " _  
_

"I guess so..." Jodie glanced to the side, a pang of guilt settling in her stomach. She wondered if Xerxes would feel the same way if he knew the kinds of things she had done throughout her life... She shook her head, looking ahead. "Thanks anyway. I'm going to try my luck down there."

" _Good luck,_ " said Xerxes. " _And have fun._ "

The call ended just after that. It was a short call, but Jodie felt that she had what she needed.

With a renewed sense of purpose, she flicked her index finger, and then looked up at the air. She nodded, standing up and collecting her guitar case.

"Well, Aiden, I think we know where we're going," she said. "Come on, let's find this Tayseri Ward."

And with this, Jodie made for the nearest rapid transit station, hoping there was some way to get to the Tayseri Ward quickly and without incident.

* * *

The Tayseri Ward was busy with activity, mostly with a clientele that looked rather high class. Off in the distance, Jodie could make out a building in the shape of some kind of theater, and all around were little amenities like restaurants. Some of them looked downright fancy, but given that she could not recognize any of the alien cuisines involved she had no way of knowing for sure. The area also had plenty of plants around, and it looked like it would be a very, very nice area to take a stroll in, especially for someone with the right amount of money.

No matter what, Jodie felt that she was severely out of place there, and she had scarcely taken a step away from the rapid transit terminal.

However, after a few seconds, her eyes fell on someone. Well, a few someones, actually, all of them looking relatively out of place as well. She saw an asari standing off to the side, though Jodie found it odd that the asari had painted herself a fully silver color. Jodie looked at her, realizing that she was remaining completely still, almost as if she was attempting to emulate a statue. Her eyes then went to the asari's credit chit where it hung on her hip. She watched as an old-looking turian walked up to the credit chit, touched his credit chit to the asari's, and then went on his way.

"Hm..." Jodie rubbed her chin. "I guess Xerxes was right about coming here..." She scanned the area around her. "So where do we go from...?"

Jodie then looked at a bench across the way from where the asari was standing completely still. The bench sat in front of a flower bed, and it seemed like a rather prominent spot considering how much was behind it. The bench itself empty, and it seemed like as good a place as any to set up shop. Jodie would have preferred to sit on a box, but seeing as how she had no box whatsoever, she would have to make due.

She walked over to the bench, setting the guitar case on it and unpacking silently. As she took the guitar out, she placed her credit chit in the case. She knew it was likely a risky venture, but in as high class a place as this she suspected that there wouldn't be anyone crafty enough to get the credit chit. Besides, even if their was, she knew Aiden would probably act to make sure Jodie's chit stayed in the same place regardless of whether or not she wanted him to. While she did bemoan that state of affairs, she knew it would be unavoidable if it came down to that.

So she sat at the bench, sighing as she looked at the crowd around her. Jodie then turned her attention to the guitar's strings, plucking a few of them absently. She had not touched a guitar since she had been homeless. As her hand went up to the pegs and adjusted them, a brief shadow of doubt washed over her. Did she still have the muscle memory necessary?

And then she tuned the guitar, and any doubts she had went away. After all, she still remembered what an average guitar tuning looked like. She finished tuning quickly, and then looked up at Aiden with a sad smile on her face. "Well, here we are again," she said. She sighed, looking at the guitar and running her left hand up and down the fingerboard. "At least I didn't have to borrow someone else's guitar this time."

Aiden clicked, the clicks flying off in a rather semi-amused manner. He then remained silent, and Jodie found herself pausing as she looked at the instrument. "Yeah..." She looked ahead to the people walking by her, and then to her credit chit where it rested in the guitar case. "Well, Aiden, here goes nothing..."

Jodie looked down at the guitar, and then took a deep breath. Her right hand glided across the strings, a rather prominent B-flat major chord sounding from the strings of the guitar. Jodie closed her eyes, tuning out the bustling sounds of the Citadel around her as she concentrated on just where she was: the feel of the guitar's weight in her lap, the feel of her hands moving across the strings and the frets equally, the sounds she heard...

And from somewhere in her memory, she began to sing.

" _Change your heart, look around you_  
 _Change your heart, it will astound you_  
 _I need your loving like the sunshine_  
 _And everybody's gotta learn sometime_  
 _Everybody's gotta learn sometime_  
 _Everybody's gotta learn sometime_ "

As she continued to sing and play, Jodie distinctly heard the shuffle of feet around the guitar case. When she opened her eyes slightly to look, she noticed that there were a couple of people inching suspiciously close to her guitar case. A brief moment of panic caught her attention when she faintly saw them lift her credit chit up, but it was a feeling that quickly dissipated when she saw a human-looking hand touch two credit chits together. Sighing in relief in the space between verses, she closed her eyes again, strumming away as she carried herself through the song.

" _Change your heart, look around you_  
 _Change your heart, it will astound you_  
 _I need your loving like the sunshine_  
 _And everybody's gotta learn sometime_  
 _Everybody's gotta learn sometime_  
 _Everybody's gotta learn sometime"_

Even as she was already reaching the end of the song, Jodie began to wonder what else she could do at that corner. If the shuffling of feet by her guitar case was any indication, she was doing rather... decently. She was unsure of what to think since hearing someone shuffle by was not quite the same thing as hearing the light plink of change entering an old tin can, but she assumed she was doing decently well. With this in mind, she briefly thought to what she could sing next, even as she concentrated on getting the last couple of notes out of the current song.

" _Everybody's gotta learn sometime_ "

She strummed several more bars, and then the song ended.

* * *

When Jodie got home to the shelter, she found that Kalo was already back from wherever he had gone, looking at some strange-looking piece of technology. The quarian looked at her upon hearing the door open, and he was quite surprised to see her come in. His gaze immediately turned to the guitar case Jodie was holding in her hand, his attention temporarily caught by Jodie. His confusion only grew as Jodie lightly placed the case by the bed, and that was when Jodie gave him a smile.

"Hey," Jodie replied. "How'd your day go?"

Kalo sighed. "As well as it could, all things considered," he commented. He then pointed to the guitar case. "What is that?"

Jodie looked at the case, and then looked at Kalo. "Oh, um... It's... my new guitar." She chuckled nervously.

"Gui... tar...?" Kalo's voice sounded rather confused.

The human shrugged. "Well, I had to get some money somehow," she supplied. "And seeing as how I couldn't work with marksmanship..."

Kalo simply continued giving Jodie a strange look. "I still do not know what this 'guitar' is supposed to be," he replied.

Jodie blinked, and then her eyes widened. "Oh!" She immediately had to fight the urge to facepalm at her own lack of consideration towards Kalo. "Sorry, I forgot. It's a little easy to forget I'm not the only one who needs to get used to this place..." She chuckled, bending down and opening the guitar case. "No, this is a guitar."

As Jodie held the instrument up for Kalo to see, he leaned forward, the piece of tech in his hands almost forgotten as he looks at it. The quarian tilted his head to the side, rubbing his chin in thought. "I do not... What is that supposed to do?" he asked.

"Play music," Jodie replied as she sat on the bed. Before Kalo could ask any further, she very quickly strummed an E major chord a couple of times.

The quarian jumped slightly, surprised at the outburst of sound from the guitar. He held this shock for a few seconds, and then relaxed. "Oh." He then chuckled. "Such a simple application for something like that. I am sorry. I must sound like such a  _bosh'tet_."

"Well, I don't think you sound like... um..." Jodie shook her head. "A  _bosh'tet_. Whatever that means."

Kalo looked at Jodie. "That does not translate?"

"Well, I mean... It sounds like... one of those things that's so specific to the language you speak," Jodie commented. "I guess..." She shrugged. "I guess it's not something good though."

"That it is not," Kalo replied. "In our language, it is something along the lines of "broken machine", I believe. But... It has become quite the swear."

Jodie nodded. "It certainly sounds like it," she said. "No, but seriously, you don't sound like a  _bosh'tet_ to me. I... I kind of confused a credit chit for an ID when I first came here, actually, so if anything..."

Kalo snorted, leaning forward slightly as the lights of his eyes brightened a little. "Indeed, that is pretty bad," he said. He then chuckled, and then jumped in place a little. "I apologize. I should not be mocking you for that."

"No, it's fine," Jodie replied. "It's... it's true anyway..." She then shrugged, getting off the bed and putting the guitar back in its case. "But... well, I'm actually going to try to get credits with this thing."

"So you are performing it?" Kalo asks. "I see..." He then glances to the side. "I apologize for my ignorance. As you can likely tell, we do not really...  _do_ music on the Fleet."

"Well, I didn't exactly have much time for this," Jodie admitted. "I mostly picked it up when I was a girl. I got pretty good when I was sixteen, but I haven't really picked it up again since." She looked up. "I was usually... otherwise occupied."

"Doing what?" asked Kalo.

Jodie sighed. "It's... complicated," she said. She then looked at the quarian. "Maybe I'll tell you some day. It's hard for me to talk about sometimes."

Kalo nodded, leaning back on the bed. "I see," he said. "I... I am sorry I asked."

"No no, don't apologize for asking," Jodie replied. "It's... It's nothing that's really bad. I just... There's something about me that changes the way people look at me whenever it comes out. Because of it, I've done things I'm not proud of, and... And I know that some people would use me for their own ends. I'd... I'd rather get to know you a little better before I trust you with that secret."

The quarian tilted his head to the side. "Oh?" He pulled his legs up. "So it is one of those... dirty little secrets?"

"You... could say that," said Jodie. "But no... I do want to say it eventually."

Kalo nodded. "I see..." he said. He then bowed his head respectfully. "Well, Jodie, I hope you and I can come to trust each other that well. I will not pry, but I must admit you have made me  _quite_ curious."

"I guess I have, huh?" Jodie chuckled. "I hope we get to that point too, Kalo. You... You seem like a nice enough guy."

"Um... thanks..." Kalo's composure seemed to crack for the first time since Jodie had met him. However, she paid no mind to it, looking at the quarian as he settled on the bed, looking at Jodie. "So you said you were going to play that...  _guitar_ for credits, yes? How many credits did you get?"

Jodie's eyes widened temporarily, and then she jumped off the bed. "Ah,  _shit_!" she exclaimed, pulling the credit chit out of one of the pockets. "Thanks for reminding me!" She checked the amount in her chit through her omni-tool before walking over to Kalo. "I actually got a few credits, and I meant to follow up on what I said yesterday."

"You do?" Kalo asked, his voice betraying a sense of bewilderment.

"Yeah," said Jodie. "Now, where's your chit?" She paused as Kalo leaned over the bed to get his. "And while you're at it, can you help me out with the transfer? I... I still don't have the process down."

"Of course," said Kalo, pulling himself back onto the bed in a sitting position. "Here, allow me."

* * *

Unusually, Jodie was not forced to flee routine the way she was every other time she finally found something she could call home. The feeling took some getting used to, but after a week of being able to fall into the same general routine, Jodie found it was a feeling she quite liked.

Most days would start in the shelter, and then she would go out to the Tayseri Ward to do her thing. The people there seemed to give the most, and it was comforting to not be the only one trying to do some street performance out there, so she grew to like the environment quite a bit. Sure, she was never really one for interacting with the others there, but she felt the money came in pretty good considering that she was an amateur with very little in the way of actual musical training. Still, she got by, and it began to become some sort of a steady income for her.

Occasionally, she would talk to Sura or Xerxes if they were free. Their schedules never permitted much free time, but whenever she was able to contact them it was usually a good thing for Jodie. However, every night she got to talk to Kalo'Veera, who was always looking at technology. He was probably the one constant that was always appearing in Jodie's life at that point, and to finally find a constant that wasn't named Nathan, Cole, or Ryan came as a pretty big relief for Jodie.

As she settled into the routine, she found that she was finally achieving some degree of normalcy, even. And Aiden seemed to go along with it as well: apart from a few instances of fogging up the mirror in the bathroom to write in it and maybe even a couple of instances of objects strangely being pushed to Jodie, Aiden had actually begun to behave himself a little more. Jodie could tell that he was beginning to get restless from the lack of activity, but if he was too restless he didn't show it. Jodie was relieved for that: it was a nice break to have Aiden not act up at all, though Jodie was concerned that it might've been the result of the unfamiliar environment around them. If she had gotten used to it before he did...

But nevertheless, Jodie's life went swimmingly, and for two months she began to fall into a pattern that she had thought was out of her reach.

Of course, Jodie's bad luck always caught up with her no matter where she went. And in this strange world, the first sign that her life was about to change dramatically would only involve a certain piece of news from the rest of the galaxy...

* * *

" _And in other news, the Council is calling a meeting into session early tomorrow to discuss the matter of Saren Arterius. Human ambassador Donnel Udina and Captain David Anderson of the Alliance Navy are both accusing Spectre Saren Arterius of being behind the attack, but what evidence do they have to prove it?_ "

Jodie listened to the broadcast from where she sat on her bed. She had barely even known what significance the attack had, so when Xerxes had called about it, she was utterly confused as to why it would be a problem. It was not until she had returned to the shelter and actually turned on a news network that she seemed to understand the scale of the attack. It was not just a simple attack from what she understood, but it was bordering on a full-scale invasion. Further, it was a full-scale invasion on one of the Alliance's first colonies, and the significance of that only occurred to Jodie as she searched the extranet while listening to the broadcasts. There were still people clamoring for the details, and she found that no answers were coming in quickly enough for her liking. Still, she knew those answers would come with time, and when they did she would be there to know what those answers were.

She tuned out of the broadcast just in time to hear the door to the room open. When she did, she saw Kalo standing there, holding some new piece of technology.

The quarian paused, listening to the news report before nodding. "I heard about the attack," he said. "I am sorry."

"What for?" Jodie asked. "I mean, I know the geth are involved but-"

Kalo tensed immediately, the lights of his eyes widening quite a bit. "The geth are involved?" he asked, his voice showing a great deal of surprise.

Jodie blinked in surprise, looking up at the quarian. "You didn't hear?" Jodie asked. "That's... that's one of the many things they've mentioned over the news." She shook her head. "Trust me, I've spent the last three hours in here keeping up with all the updates."

"Interesting..." Kalo sat down at the bed, looking intently at Jodie. "What business would the geth have outside of the Veil?"

"The Perseus Veil, right?" Jodie asked. "I don't know either. And if the news that they're working with a turian Spectre is true..."

"I definitely heard that," Kalo replied as he shifted his posture on the bed. "Why would the geth work with a turian? That... They tried to destroy the quarian people three hundred years ago before retreating behind the veil. What would he have possibly offered them to get them on his side?"

"That assumes it's true," Jodie replied.

"I know," Kalo replied. "But still, I find myself very confused. What would the geth have to gain from this?"

"You're not planning on finding out yourself, are you?" Jodie asked.

Kalo looked at the ground, and then shook his head. "No," he said. "I am not exactly in a position to do that. But if the Fleet gets involved, I may have to return there before I have finished my Pilgrimage." He sighed, looking up. "There is a  _very_ slim chance of the Fleet being involved, it is true, but you know me..."

Jodie sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "I do," she said. She then paused, neither party saying anything. Finally, Jodie coughed, looking up at the ceiling uncertainly. " I don't know, Kalo... I know I should be more involved as a human, but... I just can't bring myself to care that much."

Kalo's attention turned back to Jodie. "You cannot?" he asked. He then sighed. "Well, you grew up in a sheltered environment."

"That's true, but at the same time I feel like I should be feeling worse about this than I do," she said, sighing as she looked up. "I... I know that there's one thing Nathan and Cole  _didn't_ raise me as, and that was a soulless bitch. And yet... I don't really feel anything about this attack on the colony."

Kalo nodded. "Maybe you just need to clear your head a little," he suggested. "I... I am no expert at humans, but you have been listening to those broadcasts for the past... how long?"

"Three hours," Jodie said. She then paused, looking to the side. "Non-stop, actually..."

"Then maybe it would not hurt to step outside for a second," said Kalo. "Maybe find somewhere quiet to... contemplate. Is that the word?

"I think so," said Jodie. She then looked up, closing the broadcast for a second and then finding the pause to be gratifying. "Maybe that's what it is..." She looked at Kalo. "I'll... I'll go ahead and do that. Maybe it'll help."

"I do not see why it would not," Kalo replied. He looked at Jodie as she stood up off the bed. "Just... be careful out there, all right?"

"You know me, Kalo," Jodie replied. "I've been through worse. I'll be fine." She nodded. "I'll be back in a bit. Feel free to call me up if I'm not back in a few hours."

"Of course, Jodie," Kalo replied.

And with this, Jodie left the room, the silence offering a nice respite from the broadcasts she had been hearing about Eden Prime.

* * *

When Jodie needed quiet, she had to actively search for a place that was out of the way. Walking within the Citadel yielded lots of noise, and on top of that the elevators kept on piping up about Eden Prime. Further, she found that there were quite a few humans in the area: unsurprisingly, all of them were discussing Eden Prime with some of the others. Even some of the aliens talked a bit about the attack on Eden Prime. So no matter where she went, Jodie found herself assaulted by mentions of Eden Prime.

So when she finally found a back alley somewhere that led to a quiet area with nobody around, she sighed in relief. Finally, she had some time to think without Eden Prime constantly being brought up.

She then found herself sitting down somewhere that was relatively out of sight. Jodie looked up, not really caring where exactly she was, though she knew that the quiet hum of machinery was all around her. She thought nothing of this quiet rumbling; besides, the rumbling gave her time to think.

And think she did. It was only then that death toll estimates came to her mind, and the full weight of what happened hit her. People died on Eden Prime...

...and at that, Jodie shuddered. She hugged herself, thinking of what it must've been like for the people who died, being attacked by a synthetic force nobody had seen in over three hundred years. She briefly wondered if any children had been caught in the crossfire. She hoped not, but the horrifying thought still crossed her mind nevertheless. She had known children in a war zone: she still couldn't brush the thought of little Salim bleeding out by the decrepit church out of her mind, nor could she think of all the deaths she had to stop on her way to her target.

At least Eden Prime was quick. It was not much of a consoling thought considering that people still died, though, but it comforted her a little to know that at least Eden Prime could rebuild reasonably well. But still, all the human lives lost... Jodie wondered if-

She then heard a sound from her right. Jodie blinked as the sound died out, and then she noticed that there was a slight dent in the metal that she happened to be sitting next to. With a grimace, she looked over at Aiden, sighing as she realized exactly what just happened.

"Aiden, you shouldn't make these people's lives harder," she said pointedly. "I know we're out of the way, but still."

Jodie shook her head, looking ahead of her again as she stayed with her own thoughts. Her thoughts then turned to the fact that the geth were involved.

Had it been true that artificial intelligence could rebel, after all? Jodie admitted to not knowing the whole situation, and she knew that a definitive answer would be difficult to come by unless she knew everything about the situation. But there was something about this brand of synthetic life staying silent for three hundred years and then attacking a human colony that just did not seem right to her. There had to be more to it than that, she figured, and she was not sure what-

Jodie jumped slightly when she heard a sudden clang come from just above her. When she looked up, she saw that there was steam flowing out of one of the pipes above her. She looked at the steam for a few seconds, and then found herself sighing as it dissipated above her.

"Aiden, seriously?" she asked. "We're trying to think here, not destroy the damn place. Why are you even doing this?"

Aiden clicked at her, though his clicks were so frantic Jodie didn't know what to make of it. She could barely understand what he was saying, his clicks were too frantic.

She shook her head. "Aiden, I'm fine," she said. "Just calm down, okay?"

With this, she shook her head, and then turned to another thought that occurred to her as she settled against the wall again.

The word from the news was that Commander Shepard had been on Eden Prime again, from what she heard. She wondered how he had managed to let Eden Prime end in such a disastrous manner, if he had apparently been as perfect as the extranet made him out to be. Perhaps he had only showed up late to the party, too late to do anything real to help the colonists. She figured it must have been something beyond his control that led things to spiral out of control the way they did.

After all, she knew that some situations could only be fixed after the fact. That old DPA facility where the first Black Sun experiment had failed catastrophically was proof of that. She briefly wondered if there was anything so-

Jodie heard the sound of metal bending from above her. Jodie growled, turning to the direction that she heard the bending from to see that one of the grated panels some distance away had been dislodged, and was now hanging from the walkway. Clearly in there was an indent that could only have been caused by Aiden, if the angle and the size of the indent was any indication.

Jodie's expression softened immediately, and one of her brows arced up as questions began to race through her mind. She knew Aiden well enough to know that he was a bit of a troublemaker if left unchecked, but by this time she knew something was wrong. If the grate had been that distance away, that meant he was trying to call her attention to something. When she coupled that with Aiden's more frantic chatter earlier...

Jodie stood up, looking at the dislodged panel. "What is it, Aiden?" she asked. "Is there-?"

And  _that_  was when she saw a greyish-purple form dash by in her peripheral vision. Jodie stopped mid-sentence, and then turned her gaze to the grated pathway above her to see someone in some kind of suit and shawl-like headdress running along the top. Jodie blinked in surprise, wondering what she was doing there and how she had gotten up there. It took her a few seconds to realize that this was probably what a female quarian looked like, as she noticed the tubes on the suit that were similar to what Kalo had on his suit. This quarian was hauling another person with her, a male quarian who looked very grievously wounded from the way the blood seemed to flow down the side of his suit.

And then, Jodie looked behind the two quarians, and noticed that there was a turian chasing them both. She then heard a pop. It wasn't an overly loud pop, but it was loud enough that she could hear it. In a more crowded area, she probably would have missed it, but here where there was complete silence...

"Shit!" Jodie ducked into the area she was sitting in. Her eyes turned to the turian, though she noticed that the attacking turian didn't seem to notice she had been there. Instead, the turian chased after the two quarians, and when Jodie looked up she saw the turian fire at them.

And then her mind started working in overdrive. The first thing she noticed was that this turian was dressed in some blue-looking armor that was decidedly similar to what she had seen on a few turian C-SEC officers. Even if it was blue, though, the exact shade was far,  _far_ too light for it to be C-SEC armor. And then, there was the fact that he was indiscriminately shooting at the two quarians. As far as Jodie could tell, neither quarian had stolen anything, which would be the only thing that would warrant being chased. And even if they had, Jodie did not think that C-SEC would resort to lethal measures to stop a pair of thieves. Further, Jodie knew that she had yet to shoot a weapon that used mass accelerators; however, her gut told her that the sounds she was hearing were too soft even for those kinds of weapons.

When she put the pieces together, she realized that it was almost as if the two quarians were being hunted by someone who did not want anyone to know she existed.

"Dammit..." Jodie looked at the air as she whispered this much. "Aiden, get over there and keep them safe! I'll find a way to get up there!"

Jodie didn't even wait for Aiden to respond before she began bolting in the direction the turian and the two quarians had run off in.

As she ran, Jodie glanced up every so often, making sure they were still within her line of sight. After all, if she couldn't keep herself close enough to them, Aiden would not be able to help them. So she continued running forward, sprinting as fast as she could to keep pace with the turian. She looked to the pathway above her frequently, looking for some way up to the area where she could be of a little more help...

And then they turned an abrupt corner. Jodie almost slipped at the abrupt change of direction, only saved by the fact that she almost crashed into a nearby support column. Jodie turned this to her advantage, though, splaying her hands against the hard metal and using it to push off in the right direction. This gave her a temporary boost in speed, but unfortunately her curve had been far too wide compared to what the turian had, so Jodie was actually a little behind where she was before.

Jodie growled lightly to herself, willing herself to run faster than she ever had before. She was fast, but the turian was just as fast, if not a little faster. And so, as the turian navigated the passageway above, Jodie found herself running quickly, her pulse pounding in her ears as she raced to keep up with the turian in question. She faintly heard the quiet pops again, and a pained cry above her told Jodie that whoever this turian was chasing had gotten injured in some capacity.

_Dammit, this is getting nowhere_ , Jodie thought.  _There's gotta be..._

"Aiden, concentrate on slowing him down!" she whispered. "I think there might be a way to slow him down long enough for me to catch up!"

But Aiden had already thought two steps ahead of Jodie. Jodie turned her attention back up to where the turian was, but just as she had set her eyes on him she watched as a panel loudly and violently gave way underneath the turian pursuer. Said pursuer lost his footing almost immediately, and while he did not fall to Jodie's level he did fall face-first into the grate beneath him. The turian let out a loud groan, and quickly scrambled to stand up.

This was the opening Jodie needed. Her eyes had turned quickly to a ladder off to the side, and reaching her hand out she managed to grab a hold of one of the rungs, ascending the ladder two rungs at a time. By the time the turian had resumed chasing the two quarians, Jodie was already on the same level, her footsteps a little quieter. She leapt over the area her turian pursuer had stumbled on, and now Jodie was caught up, with the two quarians being pursued in sight.

_Good..._  she thought.  _Aiden, keep them safe!_

Jodie's warning came just in time, for the turian raised his weapon (a pistol with a very obvious suppressor on it, Jodie noted) at the two quarians. Jodie recognized Aiden's watery force shield come up almost immediately, blocking the mass accelerated projectiles that would've hit the quarians. As Jodie rushed towards them, she noticed that both of them had sustained a few gunshot injuries, though the male quarian looked as if he had been shot in a much worse place. Jodie watched as the female lumbered off to the side, stumbling slightly as she rounded another corner. The turian shot again in their direction, but Aiden's field had remained in place as the quarians stumbled away from him.

Of course, in this time, the turian had slowed down, thinking he needed to stop concentrating on running and concentrate on getting an accurate shot off. However, before he could shoot the gun, Jodie rushed forward, leaping forward and slamming all of her body weight against the turian's midsection. The momentum carried them both to the ground, the turian's pistol clattering to the ground beneath the grated pathway.

Jodie immediately felt a knee shove into her stomach. It was not enough force to wind her, but it was just enough force to get her a little away from the turian in front of her. She could not react before the turian's opposite foot planted itself against her left shoulder, but she was able to shift to the side slightly to avoid being forced to the ground by this turian. However, she still felt the blow hit rather hard, and she found she had to brace against the railing behind her for support. The turian went in for another kick as he got to his feet, but Jodie was ready for this, and her other hand came up and deflected the blow before it could do any really serious damage.

When she deflected the blow, though, Jodie's hands splayed out on the grating beneath her. She pushed off the grating immediately, getting to her feet quickly and turning around as she did so. As she got to her feet, Jodie's elbow jutted out, catching the turian in the chest. This sent him stumbling back a little bit, but he looked completely unharmed by the blow since he regained his footing almost immediately. Jodie, meanwhile, felt some pain shoot up her elbow, and she let out a rather loud grunt as she took a few steps back, getting into a fighting position.

The turian looked at her briefly, Jodie inhaling and exhaling harshly to calm herself. The turian's gaze was wild, and just a little confused.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked. "This isn't any of your business! What if they're breaking the law?"

Jodie breathed in once before responding. "It probably isn't my business," she admitted. "But what C-SEC officer would shoot at two quarians unless they were shooting back?"

"That's none of your damn business!"

The turian then lunged forward, Jodie jumping back just in time to dodge a scratching motion from the turian in question. Jodie noticed that the turian's claws looked rather shocked, and made a note to avoid them as she ducked beneath his outstretched claws. She rolled back, getting to her feet quickly and jumping back into the fray. She glanced at the turian's throat, and then brought her fist forward. Her fist collided with the hard leather flesh of the turian's neck, but this did not seem to phase the turian a single bit. Rather, he grabbed her wrist rather hard, Jodie barely managing to dodge the swipe from his opposite hand. The turian then yanked hard, pulling Jodie behind him and causing her to hit the grated walkway. Jodie was able to roll back to her feet, but she felt a searing heat imprint itself on the back of her right shoulder, a pain that made her momentarily wince.

However, by then the adrenalin had taken over, and so Jodie simply stood back up, ducking immediately when the turian aimed some kind of roundhouse kick at her head. She sensed an opportunity, rolling underneath the leg in the air. As she rolled back to her feet, she grabbed a hold of the leg rooted to the ground, and then she shoved forward with all her might. She was rewarded with the turian grunting as his body collided with the walkway beneath him, Jodie barely managing to dodge a kick to the face from this position.

Jodie immediately got back to her feet, looking at the turian in question as she moved in for a punch to the head. However, the turian's hand immediately shot up, and Jodie found her punch getting redirected to the grating. Hot pain splashed across her hand, but before Jodie could get anything else, she felt the turian's other hand grasp at her throat, constricting her airflow immediately. Her eyes widened as he then pushed them so that Jodie's back was on the metal grate beneath them. Jodie's free hand shot to her throat, trying to get some kind of purchase as her legs began to move, trying to get some purchase against the turian right before he pinned one of his legs over hers.

However, before more than a few seconds could pass, Jodie saw the turian's throat get constricted by an invisible hand. The turian's eyes bulged almost immediately, and then his grip on Jodie's throat loosened just enough that her airway was able to open slightly. Jodie gasped the air in as the turian began to claw at the invisible hand that was stroking him. Silently, Jodie thanked Aiden for stepping in, and then she brought her legs straight up to her chest and kicked the turian away with all her might.

This caused the turian to stumble back, the alien falling as he struggled for air. Jodie, not one to waste her opportunities, immediately powered through her brief coughing fit and got back to her feet, the adrenalin still coursing through her system as she raised her boot and aimed it straight at the turian's neck. She squeezed her eyes shut, and then slammed her foot down as hard as she could.

The pop she heard then was quite different from the one she had heard a few minutes earlier, and the minute she heard it she felt the turian still beneath her.

Jodie opened her eyes, and then looked down at the lifeless turian beneath her. Her breathing suddenly came in labored, shallow breaths, and she found herself stepping back as she looked at the lifeless being in front of her. Even after everything she had been through in her life, Jodie found she still could never get used to the sight of a dead body, something that she was all too aware of seeing this sentient being laid out before her for the first time.

She took a few breaths to steady herself, closing her eyes.  _He would've killed those quarians if you hadn't stepped in_ , she said to herself.  _Pull yourself together, Jodie. Pull yourself together..._

Her breathing eventually slowed, and then she opened her eyes. The pain in her shoulder began to ease itself back into Jodie's awareness, and the pain was suddenly acute enough that she was shocked back into reality.

She then shakily stood up, looking down the pathway to see that the two quarians were laying further down the path from her. Using the railing to steady her steps, Jodie walked forward, the female quarian looking at Jodie nervously. The male quarian laid slumped against the floor. From what Jodie could tell, the man was not even breathing, and she had a hunch that she was already too late to save him.

That did not matter to her, though, because at least the lady was still alive.

Jodie steadied herself in front of the female quarian, and then she knelt down to her level. The female quarian twitched, her arm coming up quickly to try to shove Jodie away. However, Jodie anticipated this, and then she slowly caressed the woman's other arm as she redirected the weak shove.

"It's all right," Jodie reassured her. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I'm a friend."

The quarian looked up at Jodie, her eyes wide with terror. However, as time passed, Jodie remained there in front of her, remaining calm and simply looking at the quarian woman with a reassuring look on her face. Slowly, Jodie noticed the quarian relaxing under her gaze, until most of the fear finally fled from her eyes.

"I... Keelah..." she said, her voice containing heavy hints of a not-quite-Slavic accent. "Why...?"

"I don't know," Jodie replied. "All I know is, you were getting chased, someone was shooting at you..." She shook her head. "That doesn't matter." Jodie then looked the quarian over, seeing how she was bleeding on her right shoulder. "Can you move?"

"I... I can..." she said.

Jodie nodded, positioning herself to hoist the quarian to her feet as she placed her arm behind her shoulders. "Okay, then hold on," Jodie said. "I'm going to get you some medical attention here." She winced slightly as the pain shot down her shoulder again. "Speaking of which, I could use some too."

The woman chuckled even as Jodie slowly rose to her feet. The quarian held Jodie's shoulder with a firm grip, and then she let out a surprised sigh. "Keelah... I didn't think..." The quarian paused, looking at Jodie. "Thank you..."

"Don't worry about it... um..." Jodie looked at the quarian, her glance beckoning.

"Tali," the quarian replied. "My name is Tali..."

Jodie nodded. "Okay, Tali," Jodie replied. "Hang in there." She then cast a glance at the male quarian. "As soon as we get medical attention I'll get somebody to deal with these bodies, all right?"

Tali only nodded in reply, not saying anything as Jodie heard her sniffle lightly. Jodie began to look for a way to descend from where the two of them were located, shambling forward rather slowly as her eyes looked for any sign of a nearby ladder.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jodie trudged through the streets, not minding the glances of disdain she got as she carried Tali through the ward. She remembered that there was a med clinic somewhere in the ward, she just couldn't remember where exactly it was. She glanced at Tali, who was pretty quickly starting to lose consciousness. Jodie knew that if Tali did that, she would not be in good hands. Being helped to a med bay by someone at least a foot shorter than she was could not have been good, and Jodie knew it was only a matter of time before she lost consciousness.

"C'mon..." she muttered under her breath. "Stay with me, Tali... Stay with me..."

The human looked up, turning her attention to Tali briefly. Tali looked to be sickly, and Jodie noticed that her arm was a little limp. The quarian's eye-lights were still open, though, and Jodie took that as a good sign. She adjusted her grip on Tali's torso, worried about whether the wound had been infected yet. Kalo had told her about their weak immune systems: she knew that no matter what, Tali would get sick in some way. Aiden had already done what he could for Tali as they moved along, but Jodie knew they couldn't take any chances with someone who had a weak immune system. Jodie thus forged on, looking above them every so often.

_It has to be around here somewhere..._  she thought.  _But where is it...?_

She took a few steps forward, pressing on despite the ache in her legs and the arm that was supporting Tali. Jodie's heart pounded in her ears, and then she found herself wiping some sweat from her brow. She looked up, hoping-

And then, she saw the tell-tale plus sign above a doorway. The sign had not changed at all from what she had known on Earth, and it was a welcome sign on all accounts.

"There it is!" Jodie said excitedly, picking up the pace slightly. "Hang in there, Tali, we're almost there!"

Jodie rushed towards the door of the med clinic, and with a grunt, she leaned against the door. Tali looked above her, and Jodie could tell that she saw the same thing she did. "Are we...?" Tali asked.

"We're here," Jodie said. She then slammed her hand on the door panel, looking inside to see a red-headed doctor slaving away at a datapad. "C'mon, stay with me now. Stay with me!"

The red headed doctor then turned upon hearing the sound of the door opening. Jodie stumbled in, Tali following suit as Jodie looked at the doctor in fear. The doctor's eyes widened briefly, and then she let out a hushed exclamation in what Jodie assumed was French before she rushed over to the injured quarian. As soon as the doctor came up to them, she grabbed a hold of Tali around the same spot that Jodie was holding her, and then Jodie felt a burst of speed as Tali was carried over to one of the beds.

" _Mon Dieu_ , what happened here?" the doctor asked, a heavy French-Canadian accent punctuating her voice.

"Long story," said Jodie as they got Tali to one of the berths. "She was attacked by a turian. She had a friend with her, but he was dead by the time I was able to help." Jodie looked at the doctor as she let go of Tali. "Can you-"

"Are you hurt too?" the doctor asked.

Jodie was aware of whatever had happened on her shoulder. By then, it had turned into a dull throbbing, but... "I am, but it's just an abrasion," she said. "Get to her first."

"Of course," the doctor said as she turned her attention to Tali. She very quickly examined the wound, taking some kind of sterilized wipe from a side table and wiping some of the blood away. "What are you feeling right now?"

"I'm feeling faint," Tali said. "Help..."

The doctor nodded. "Of course." She then rushed over to a set of supply containers on the far side of the room, her steps pounding against the metal floor as she ran. After a few seconds of rummaging through the containers, she came rushing back with a few items of interest, one of which included a syringe. "How long has she had this wound?"

Jodie frowned, looking at the ground. "I don't know, exactly," she said. "I've been looking around the Citadel for the past seven minutes trying to find this place. It's a miracle she hasn't bled out by now..."

"I don't think you needed to worry about that," the doctor replied. "She'll need an immune booster, but the wound itself does not look too severe. There is no mass accelerator round, it did not go too deep... It could have been much worse." The doctor had grabbed a packet of something green. It looked like some kind of green oil, and Jodie could only watch in surprise as she tore the packet open. She dipped her hand into this packet, and then carefully and meticulously applied it all over Tali's wound with a speed that Jodie didn't even know a doctor could work at. "That should stem the bleeding." She then grabbed the syringe. "I-"

"Whoah, what?" Jodie asked. "You're not going to suture it?"

"There is no need in an age with Medigel," she said. "And besides, it wouldn't help her immune reaction."

"But she could bleed out!" Jodie protested.

"She will not bleed out with the Medigel, and the infection has a higher chance of killing her at this point anyway," the doctor replied. Jodie opened her mouth to protest, but by then the doctor turned her attention to Tali. "The Medigel should hold. I'm going to go ahead and seal the suit up before applying the immune shot. Is that all right?"

Tali nodded half-tiredly, and then she pointed at herself where the bullet wound had hit her. "Yes," she said.

The doctor nodded, turning her attention to Jodie. "Um... miss, I may require your assistance," she said.

"All right!" Jodie said as she came forward. The doctor then picked up something from the supplies she had grabbed from the crate, and Jodie faintly realized it was a material to help seal the suit. As the doctor went straight for the suit breach, Jodie came forward, holding Tali's arm to the quarian's side and making sure it stayed there as the doctor came forward with the sealing material. She watched as the doctor worked on sealing the suit, a process which actually did not take very much time at all.

The doctor sealed the suit quickly, and then she grabbed the syringe and looked for a particular spot on Tali's suit. She then found some kind of opening within the fabric, bringing the syringe up to that and inserting it carefully. The doctor then pushed down on the syringe, and Jodie watched its contents enter the suit through that port. The doctor then nodded, pulling the syringe away carefully and calmly placing it down. It was only then that Jodie noticed that the doctor was still relatively calm.

"How are you so calm?" Jodie asked.

"Experience," the doctor replied simply.

"And a little luck, I take it," Jodie replied. "What was that stuff you put on her wound?"

The doctor then crossed her arms. "I take it you have never heard of Medigel," she said.

"I..." Jodie paused, looking at the ground. "I guess not. I mean... I've lived a pretty sheltered life until now, so..."

"It certainly seems that way," the doctor replied as she took the packet and walked over to Jodie. "You said you had an ab-"

Of course, Jodie did not need to say anything, for the doctor then saw Jodie's abrasion on her shoulder. The doctor blinked in surprise, though Jodie noticed she did not look too concerned. Jodie could tell from her expression that the wound was not serious by any stretch of the imagination, even if the ruptured fabric of her shirt made it seem worse than it actually was.

"Yeah, you can see it all right," Jodie said. "Don't you need to disinfect it?"

"There's no need," said the doctor. "The Medigel will take care of that." She then held the packet of green liquid, pulling some of the tattered clothing away from the abrasion. "Now hold still. This will only take a second."

Jodie then felt something cool being rubbed against her abrasion. Jodie found herself biting her lip at the accompanying sting, but the sting lasted for only a second before a feeling of relief washed over her shoulder. In a few seconds, the dull throb was mostly gone, and she felt right at ease as she realized that the stuff she had been rubbing on her shoulder was actually rather fast-acting. Jodie breathed out rather easily at this, and then the doctor nodded to the two of them.

"There you two go," she said. She then turned to the quarian. "It looked like a mass accelerator round grazed you. How did you get that wound?"

"Again, there was a turian shooting at her," Jodie said. "I was on the sidelines, and I... I jumped in to help." She looked over at Tali before turning her attention. "I'm sorry I know so little, but I was trying to find this place so much I wasn't even thinking, and-"

"It's fine..." Tali's voice came out a little hoarse, but otherwise it seemed about level with how Jodie had heard it the first time they spoke. "I..." She paused, looking away. "I shouldn't have dragged you into this, Jodie. I'm sorry."

"No no, it's fine," Jodie replied. "If I hadn't intervened, you probably would've died." Jodie then glanced to the side. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I couldn't save your friend..."

Tali nodded, looking down. "Keenah was a good man..." she said. "I should've... Dammit..." She breathed in, looking at Jodie. "Thank you for trying, at least."

Jodie patted Tali's knee. "You're welcome," she said. "If you need time to grieve him..."

"I would like that," Tali said.

The doctor nodded solemnly. "I may need to keep you two here for a few hours to monitor her condition," the doctor said. "Is this all right?"

"Yeah, that's fine," said Jodie. She then sighed. "Sorry, I don't think we introduced. I'm Jodie, and that's Tali'Zorah."

"Dr. Michel," the doctor introduced herself. She then turned to Tali. "Don't worry, you'll be all right, Tali."

"Thank you, doctor," Tali replied. She sighed heavily, and then leaned back as some of her strength returned to her. She closed her eyes, though, and Jodie found herself pulling her legs close as she watched Tali silently grieve for her quarian friend.

* * *

Some time later, Tali sneezed. Jodie looked over to the quarian as she started to sit up, with Dr. Michel looking up from where she was checking some paperwork. Jodie briefly wondered if health bills worked the same way they did in America, but she pushed that thought to the back of her head as Tali sat up, looking at the ground.

"Feeling all right?" Jodie asked.

"The cold is coming in now..." Tali said. "But I think I'll live. Thank you." She looked at Jodie, sighing. "You're still here."

"Of course," said Jodie. She then looked out the door and then back at Tali. "I... I feel like it's my responsibility to make sure you're all right."

"Why do you care so much?" Tali asked. "We only met a few hours ago."

"I know..." Jodie scratched her neck. "It must seem crazy that a sheltered human would want to help a quarian, but... I don't know." She sighed, looking at Tali. "I've been hunted before by people I don't want to find me. I might as well help you get out of it."  _I know I wanted someone to say the same for me..._  she thought.

"No," said Tali. "You've done what you can. I... I've gotten myself into a big mess. You don't need to be dragged any further into this."

Jodie tilted her head to the side, even as Dr. Michel put her datapad on the desk and walked over to where Tali and Jodie were seated. "And you still want to do it alone?" Jodie asked. "You almost got yourself killed, Tali. It seems more serious than you're letting it on."

Tali looked at Jodie. "It is, but I can't let you be part of it anymore," Tali said. "This is something I have to do on my own."

"Why, so you can get yourself killed?" Jodie asked. She stood up abruptly, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that. If you're going to fix whatever situation you're in, I think you're going to at least need some help. And I can help you." Jodie's gaze concentrated on Tali as she spoke. "You saw me fight that turian. I can handle myself pretty well. And since I saved you... well, I think I'm obligated to see this through to wherever it goes."

Tali sighed, and then turned her attention to the ceiling for a few seconds. When she looked at Jodie, her shoulders were hunched. "I'm trying to fight against a Spectre," she said. "You shouldn't get involved."

At this, Jodie did a slight double-take, leaning forward. "A Spectre?" she asked. "What did you do to-?"

"Was it Saren?"

Tali and Jodie both turned to look at Dr. Michel as she said this. The doctor stood there, having pulled up some kind of chair to be closer to the conversation. Jodie blinked in surprise, and then turned to Tali to notice that she seemed to be even more surprised about this. Tali looked at Dr. Michel, her hands shaking slightly as she then turned to Jodie.

"Um... Yes, it was..." Tali said nervously.

Jodie jolted in place. "Wait, so this is about the Eden Prime attack, isn't it?" she asked.

"It... It is..." Tali looked at her own omni-tool before turning her attention to Dr. Michel. "Are... Do you work for...?" The words sounded almost forced, as if she was desperately afraid.

"No," Dr. Michel said. "And I doubt there would be very many humans who would work for him. As far as I know, Saren is a major xenophobe even amongst other Council races..."

Jodie nodded. "So she's okay then," she said. "What did you find?"

Tali exhaled nervously. "I... I found some audio of a conversation he had with someone I don't know," she said. "A geth had it stored in its memory core."

"You were close to a geth?" Jodie asked.

"I was curious," said Tali. "It got nearly my whole group killed, but when I heard the geth were mobilizing for activity outside the Veil, I had to know what was happening." She shook her head, her eyes closing for a second. "As I said, I found an audio recording there..." She then opened her omni-tool, going through the menus with a practiced ease as Jodie recognized some audio software. "I guess if I show it to you..."

And then, Tali pressed play on her omni-tool.

" _Eden Prime was a major victory_." Jodie jumped slightly upon hearing the rough, gravelly voice of a turian. She assumed this was Saren Arterius, and as she leaned in closer, she looked at the omni-tool with a slight amount of trepidation. " _The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit._ "

" _And one step closer to the return of the Reapers_ ," a female voice replied.

The audio cut off abruptly at this point, leaving the clinic in a shocked silence. Jodie and Dr. Michel looked at each other, both of them displaying expressions of complete shock. Jodie then turned back to Tali as she closed the omni-tool, and then she leaned in close, looking at the quarian intently as she took a hold of her forearms.

"So that turian I fought..." said Jodie.

"That was one of Saren's assassins," Tali replied. "I wasn't able to get away from Saren in time before he discovered I had this incriminating evidence. I've... I've been trying to get it out since then, and that assassin had been hounding me for some time. I don't think he'll be the last one, either."

Jodie nodded. "This is big, then," she said. "I mean..." She then looked at Tali intently, a deluge of questions coming to her mind. "Have you tried telling the Council?"

"I wanted to seek an audience with them, but there is a seven month waiting list." Tali looked down. "I have the feeling we can't afford to wait that long."

"And what about the human embassy?" Jodie asked. "They might be interested in that data, and... and maybe the human ambassador can get the info to them to bypass that waiting list."

"The embassies won't help me," said Tali. "I already tried seeking asylum at the turian embassy, and I was turned away. I don't especially think the human embassy will be different."

Jodie shook her head. "I think they'll be able to look past that fact if you show them your evidence," Jodie replied. "They would listen, right?"

"I do not know," said Dr. Michel. "I hear that Ambassador Udina is an opportunist around the Council."

"Then that's all the more reason for him to listen to what she has to say!" Jodie replied.

"And how do you plan on getting to the human embassy?" Tali asked. "What if there is a wait list there as well? I tried the official outlet already. I can't get it through there..."

"Then who are you planning on giving that audio to?" asked Jodie.

Tali looked Jodie directly in the eye. "The Shadow Broker," Tali said.

Jodie jumped back, and she swore she could hear Aiden click in alarm. "The Shadow Broker?" Jodie said. "I don't-"

"Why not?" Tali asked. "If nobody in any form of government will take it, then the Shadow Broker would, right?"

"And what would he do?" Jodie asked, frowning.

"I don't know," said Tali. "Maybe... Maybe he will give it to them." Jodie briefly questioned the wisdom of the broker giving his agents intel to give to the Council if bypassing the Broker completely would be more efficient, but Tali continued before Jodie could say anything. "And even if he doesn't, maybe there is something he can do to stop Saren."

Jodie's eyes narrowed slightly as she shifted in her seat.  _I doubt that he'll give it to the Council,_ she thought.  _And I'm not sure there's much he would do._ _If he's as self-serving as the CIA was..._ She opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it, thinking it might not be best to say anything about the CIA so far into the future.

"Perhaps that may be best," Dr. Michel said before Jodie could say anything else.

Jodie turned to Dr. Michel. "And... and what if the Shadow Broker only has his own best interests in mind?" she asked.

"Then someone will still be doing something to help," Tali replied. "No matter what, this is too big for me. I can't stay involved in this any longer. I need safety, and if the Broker will provide it..." She glanced off to the side, before looking at Jodie. "By now, I've made my mind up."

Jodie shook her head, crossing her arms. "I don't know," she said. "I don't think that's the best idea..."

"Trust her on this," said Dr. Michel as she placed a hand on Jodie's arm. "At this point, it may be the only option left."

Jodie sighed in frustration, and then nodded. "Fine," said Jodie. "But if this doesn't go anywhere, I'm going to suggest you look for someone else to give this intel to."

Tali nodded. "Good!" she said, and then looked to Dr. Michel. "Do you know where we can go to talk to one of his agents?"

Dr. Michel nodded. "I think I may know someone," she said. She looked over. "Although, he  _is_ in the Presidium,so it may be dangerous for you two to get close to there."

"Well, if we're going to do this anyway, I guess we've got no choice," said Jodie. She then looked at Tali. "Don't worry about a thing. I'm going to be here to protect you every step of the way."

"Th... Thank you," Tali said. She then coughed lightly, looking at Dr. Michel. "Whatever immunobooster you just used, it seems to be working faster than they normally would. I do not feel quite so sick as I normally would..."

Jodie glanced up at where she assumed Aiden would be. True to form, Aiden clicked in amusement, as if he were chuckling. Jodie had often wondered how Aiden's healing factor worked or even what he could do with it, but she knew that he was always great for that sort of thing. She gave Aiden a small smile, before she turned her attention back to Dr. Michel.

"That is... good," Dr. Michel replied. She then stood up as well, and Jodie followed suit. "I believe I have a contact e-mail that you can use to contact one of the Broker's agents."

Jodie nodded. "Thank you, doctor," she said. "We'll take that to heart."

"You have been such a great help," said Tali. "I don't know how I can-"

"Don't worry about that," said Dr. Michel. "I just hope you remain safe."

"Thank you so much..." Tali said as she began to walk out of the clinic. Jodie fell into step with the quarian, and Jodie feebly waved to Dr. Michel as she exited the clinic behind Tali.

* * *

Jodie let Tali send the message to the Broker's people, even against her better judgment. It hadn't taken them an hour or two to get a reply from the Broker, though Tali did say she had to send a reply to the Broker as well. It was nothing truly terrible, though, and the two of them were able to get something set-up with one of the Broker's agents. They had been told to enter Chora's Den, which was where the operative known as Fist would be waiting to give Tali and Jodie further instructions.

So when Jodie and Tali found themselves sitting within the bar waiting for Fist to finish some business, Jodie found herself glancing around nervously.

_Oh God, of all the places, why did it have to be **this**? _ she thought, her eyes darting around to all the various men in the bar.

Jodie knew that, reasonably, no man would want to do anything terribly fishy with her right out in the middle of the bar. From what she could tell, there was enough distractions from her that most of the horndogs in such a situation would not gravitate towards her. There were also a lot of people in there, and she could tell just from a single glance that some of the men there were not exactly there for the asari strippers that danced atop an area above the bar. She also knew that with Tali, nobody would really try anything.

But even through all the rational justifications for why she would never be touched, she still had a horrible, horrible feeling about the place. Every second or so she would glance out to the bar around them, making sure nobody approached them with anything. The last time she had been in a place like this...

_No, no, that happened a while ago..._  Jodie thought.  _That happened a-_

"You don't seem comfortable here..."

Jodie was jolted out of her thoughts by Tali. She glanced nervously at the quarian, and then found herself letting out a shaky breath.

"I'm not," Jodie admitted straight away. "I'm not...  _fond_ of bars." She shook her head.

"Oh..." Tali nodded, giving Jodie a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry I took you here, then."

"No no, it's all right," Jodie replied, waving her hand reassuringly. "It's in the past now, so there's no reason for you to worry too much, you know?" She then chuckled nervously. She then looked at Tali, and opened her mouth hoping for a distraction. "So... you're on your Pilgrimage?"

Tali reared back in surprise, her eyes widening slightly. "I... I am..." Tali replied nervously. "How did you know?"

"I have a quarian friend back in the shelter I'm living in," Jodie replied. "He's a nice guy, actually. Though, I do wonder how different it would be to be on pilgrimage with someone else."

"Keenah was a good friend," she said. "There were... others, as well. None of them made it to the Citadel." She paused, looking at the table intently. "I couldn't lead any of them..." She sighed, shaking her head. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, you've got nothing to be sorry about," said Jodie. "I guess they must've trusted you a lot to follow you in to geth space."

"They did," said Tali. "And that trust got them killed..."

Jodie nodded glumly. "Look at it this way," said Jodie. "At least you were leading them honestly. I mean, they knew what they were getting into, right?"

"They did," said Tali. "I worry that I led them into danger knowingly, that I could've told them to stay away..."

"You shouldn't have to worry," Jodie replied. "They probably knew what they would have to sacrifice. The fact that they followed you in anyway says a lot about the kind of people they were." Jodie sighed, offering Tali a smile. "Trust me. They were good men, Tali, and you should be proud that you knew them at all."

Tali nodded. "I... I see... Thank you..." she said. She leaned back in her seat, looking up at the chair. "You never get used to people dying around you, you know?"

"I know all too well..." said Jodie, looking down guiltily.

Tali nodded. "I guess you're right," she said. "Now isn't the time to worry about that. We have to get to safety."

"Yeah," said Jodie as she leaned back. "But until then, we're sticking together."

Tali tilted her head to the side. "Why do you care?" she asked. "I mean, we only just met..."

"Well, I... I guess that's just a funny thing about some people," Jodie said. "Trust me, you'd be surprised the kinds of situations I got in where the least likely of people helped me. I still have a hard time believing some people can be that nice." She then sighed, deciding it was time to change the topic of discussion. "So what did you-?"

She then heard someone clear his throat to get their attention. Jodie jumped in her seat a little bit, her attention turning to a krogan bouncer that had walked up to the booth they occupied. As soon as she saw the krogan's business-like look, Jodie relaxed slightly.

"The boss wants to see you two in his office," the krogan said gruffly. "You better get in there. It must be pretty important if he's willing to talk to a suit rat."

The krogan then walked off, leaving Jodie and Tali to look at each other. If Tali was affected by the slur in any way, she did not show it. Jodie could only sigh and offer a sympathetic pat on Jodie's hand. She nodded, and then gestured in the direction the krogan had pointed at.

"Well, we better not keep him waiting," Jodie said. "Come on. Let's go see Fist."

* * *

Fist looked at the two women with a severe expression. He glanced at Tali for a second, and then turned his attention to Jodie, who stood there quietly as he paced around his desk. She never quite liked the feeling of being scrutinized for any reason, though the fact that this was a business meeting helped her nerves considerably. Tali did not look anywhere near as uncomfortable as Jodie felt, so Jodie supposed there was some comfort to take in that. However, she had the feeling just from looking at Fist that this man could not be trusted.

He then placed his hand on the desk in front of him, turning to Tali. "So you have some intel for the Broker."

"Yes," Tali replied. "I need to pass it off to someone else. In exchange, I'm looking for safety." She then indicated Jodie. "And some safety for her as well. She's been helpful up to this point, and if the Spectre found out that she was involved..."

Jodie did not protest. After all, she knew that, deep down, Tali was right. It did not stop her from feeling a little offended at Tali, but at the same time Jodie knew one could never be too careful in such affairs.

Fist nodded. "I haven't set up the meeting with them yet, but I will be doing that soon," he said. "You want this data to be taken care of as quickly as possible, right?"

"Yeah," said Jodie. "This information needs to get out to someone."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Fist said. He looked over at the two of them, and then opened his omni-tool. "There's an alley around the corner from here. The trade-off will occur in there in half an hour. He'll be there, trust me."

Jodie frowned at this. Before she could say anything, though, Tali interjected. "I'm not handing this information to anyone else," said Tali. "He better be there."

"As I said, he will be," Fist replied. "Now get the fuck out of my office. I've got things to do."

The krogan bouncer at the door cleared his throat. Jodie realized this was their cue to leave. As they left, Jodie could not help but take a glance back at Fist. Fist opened his omni-tool, but before she could see what he was doing, she was ushered out by the krogan bouncer. She felt herself get moved through the club with Tali close by, and before they both knew it they were outside of Chora's Den.

"Now beat it," said the krogan.

With this, he retreated back to the entrance of the club, giving the two women a pointed look as they both walked away. Jodie glanced back every so often, feeling very uncomfortable about the current situation they were in. Something about the brief exchange made her very uncomfortable, but most notably...

They were right at the entrance of the alley that Fist must have referred to when Jodie turned to Tali. "He?"

"The Shadow Broker of course," said Tali.

Jodie frowned, her suspicions more or less confirmed. "The Shadow Broker?" she asked.

"Yes," said Tali. She opened her omni-tool, and Jodie recognized the e-mail application that she was opening. "The Shadow Broker himself said he would be there to collect the data. I'm expecting him to show up. See?"

Jodie then looked at the message intently, frowning as she did so. Indeed, there was the promise that the Shadow Broker would meet with Tali in-person written right there, along with additional instructions for her to meet up with Fist to set up the exchange. She then glanced at the e-mail address, finding that it looked rather... accurate. She couldn't explain it, but it looked like an official address and not some scammer's address.

However, she then remembered what Xerxes told her. An alarm immediately went off in Jodie's mind as she remembered this, and subsequently she looked at Tali with a concerned expression on her face.

Tali then tilted her head just a little to the right. "Jodie?" she asked.

Jodie blinked, shaking her head. "Tali, I... I have a friend who tells me that the Shadow Broker  _never_ meets anyone in person," she replied.

Tali looked at Jodie in concern. "Jodie, he-"

"I know what the message said!" Jodie exclaimed as she began pacing around. "But this friend is an information broker. He's not part of the Broker's network, but even he can tell you that the Shadow Broker doesn't meet anyone in person." Jodie then pointed at the message. "And if the Broker did meet people, why would he tell us to meet with one of his agents? Why didn't he just set the appointment himself? If he wanted to meet you in person to get the information, he would've told you a time and a place."

Tali paused, and then glanced to the side. "You think so?" she asked.

"I think," Jodie replied as she stopped pacing. "I'm not sure, but with someone as mysterious as he is..." She sighed, looking directly at Tali. "But even then, I don't like anything about this at all, Tali. From the message itself to the fact that we had to arrange it through Fist..." Jodie shook her head, placing her hands on her hips. "I think the Broker's up to something. And it's not something good."

"This may still be our best option," said Tali.

Jodie shook her head. "I'm getting less and less convinced of that with each passing second," Jodie said plainly. "It sounds like the Broker's looking out for his own interests, and I don't think he's thinking about your safety or anything like that." She shook her head.

"Then what do you suggest?" Tali asked.

"I... I don't know," said Jodie. She then looked at her omni-tool. "Maybe... maybe there's a way to get to the embassy now." She paused, and then opened her omni-tool. "I hate having to ask for another favor from him, but I don't think we have a choice..."

Jodie then carefully went through the menus to find Xerxes' contact information. "Do you think that's a good idea?" Tali asked.

"If nothing else, it can't hurt to ask," Jodie replied. "At least then, we can be sure there's no other possibility. But if there is, we're ditching this meeting."

"But the Shadow Broker-"

"The Shadow Broker probably won't come," Jodie said. "I don't think he'd be very mysterious if he showed his face to any random person who asked to meet him." She then opened Xerxes' number and dialed that very quickly. "If we can't do anything else, we'll stick with the plan. But if my friend says anything differently, then we're abandoning the Shadow Broker's track." She heard the ring of the call connecting, and then pulled Tali off to the side so their phone conversation had some measure of privacy. Tali looked at Jodie nervously, her hands wringing together as Jodie looked intently at her omni-tool.

After a few seconds, the line sprang to life. " _Hello, welcome to Moskas and Briers,_ " Xerxes' voice replied. " _This is-_ "

Jodie breathed out a rather brief sigh of relief. "Xerxes!" she said. "Xerxes, you're there! Thank God!"

There was a pause on the other end of the line. " _Jodie?_ " Xerxes asked.

"Yes, it's me," said Jodie. "Listen, I need your help. I've gotten myself in a really bad situation, and there's someone with me who needs the help too."

" _What happened?_ " Xerxes asked. " _Do you need me to bail you out?_ "

"No, but I do need to get a Spectre off of my friend's back," she said. "And mine." She shook her head. "Look, Xerxes, I don't know what you know about Saren and his possible involvement in Eden Prime, but trust me: he was behind the attack there!"

There was a dead silence on the other line for a few seconds. Tali looked at Jodie in trepidation. Jodie could not blame her: she herself felt her pulse jump up a few notches, in such a way that she felt intensely uncomfortable. She found herself glancing up at the ceiling really briefly before turning her attention back to the omni-tool.

" _I... He was?_ "

"Yes," said Jodie. "And my friend has some audio that proves it!"

" _I... I see..._ " Xerxes sounded unsure. " _Jodie, you're in grave danger._ "

Jodie chuckled bitterly upon hearing this. "I know that," she replied. "That's why I called you. I thought you might know something..."

There was a brief pause. " _Okay,_ " he said. " _Sorry. What did you and your friend try to do about it?_ " _  
_

"My friend insisted on giving the intel to the Shadow Broker," Jodie replied. "She tried the turian embassy and was denied, and there's a seven-month wait list to see the Council directly. We've set up a meeting with the Shadow Broker by now. She thinks this is the only option, but the more I see about how he's setting up the intel exchange, the more I think we're walking into a trap. I mean, she refused to meet with anyone but the Broker himself, and the Broker sent her an email that contradicts what you know about him." She shook her head. "It's all very suspicious, Xerxes, and I don't think we should do it. Do you know if there is any way that we can get this to the Council?"

" _Hm... I think you may be in luck, actually_ _,_ " said Xerxes. Jodie then heard some beeping for a second. " _According to what I heard, C-SEC was running an investigation against Saren._ "

Jodie and Tali exchanged a look of surprise before they both turned their attention back to Jodie's omni-tool. "They were?" Jodie asked.

" _Yes, but I have the feeling it's a... a kind of 'kangaroo investigation', if I'm using that right,_ " Xerxes replied. " _Spectre files are highly classified affairs, Jodie. Even if they got the proper paperwork, the investigator would still have to deal with a large number of redactions. But..._ " He paused, and then Jodie heard some more soft electronic beeps in the background. " _Give me a few minutes. I don't know who the officer in charge of the investigation is, but I can try to contact someone in C-SEC to find out. If I can find a way to contact that officer..._ " He paused a second time, this silence shorter than the last. " _Or, you could go to Sura._ "

Jodie nodded, wondering why this didn't occur to her until then. "I could," she said. "She might know." She paused, looking at Tali. "Is she on duty right now?"

" _Right now... Knowing her schedule, she's probably doing some paperwork in that office where we met,_ " Xerxes replied. " _All right. Go to Sura. I'll try to find out who the officer in charge of that investigation is. When you meet Sura, ask her if she's heard from me recently: if she hasn't, or if you haven't heard from me by then, ask her who's in charge of the investigation, and tell her to let me know you're with her. No matter what, stay with her: if I can contact the officer, I'll tell the officer to look for Sura. She can probably protect the both of you until that investigator gets to her. And whatever you do, do_ not  _go to that meeting you've set up with the Broker. If the Broker tells you he'll meet you in person, I've heard that's not a good sign._ " _  
_

Jodie sighed in relief. "All right, I'll go look for her," she said. "Thanks, Xerxes."

" _Any time, Jodie,_ " he said. " _Stay safe._ "

And with this, the conversation cut out. Jodie turned to Tali, who had noticeably relaxed. Tali nodded, sighing in relief.

"I... I didn't know..." she said.

"Well, I didn't know either, so I can't really blame you for that," said Jodie. "But no, it's good there's another option." She then nodded. "I just hope Sura doesn't make any-"

"Sura?" Tali asked. "Who is that?"

Jodie nodded. "She's a C-SEC officer I know," she said. "She'll be able to help us even if Xerxes can't get in touch with the other guy."

"I see..." Tali said. "I just hope Saren doesn't catch up to me."

"We'll make sure that doesn't happen," Jodie said. "Come on. We should get going."

With this, Jodie began speed-walking towards the nearest rapid transit station-which, thankfully, happened to be right there. Tali followed suit as Jodie called up Sura's location, the quarian looking behind her as she joined Jodie in front of the terminal.

* * *

As soon as they arrived by the C-SEC station, Jodie was pulling Tali along with her through the door into the offices. As soon as Jodie entered, she was relieved to see Sura sitting at her spot again, typing away at her terminal. Sura glanced up at the door as it opened, and then turned her whole body towards it as she recognized Jodie. Relieved beyond all measure, Jodie came up to the desk, Tali following her quickly.

"Huh, the accidental racist picked up another alien friend, huh?" Sura asked.

Tali glanced at Jodie with a confused expression. "Accidental racist?" she asked.

Jodie groaned, holding her hand to her face. "Sura, now is  _not_ the time," Jodie said as she shook her head. She then removed the hand from her face, looking right at Sura. "Listen, has Xerxes talked to you recently?"

Sura frowned. "No, not really," she said. "Is he in trouble?"

"No," Jodie said. "But I had to ask his help, and he told me he'd try to talk to you." Jodie glanced at Tali, and then leaned closer to Sura. "Listen, Sura, do you know who the officer running the investigation into Saren's involvement in Eden Prime is?"

Sura suddenly jolted back, looking at Jodie and Tali in surprise. "The Saren investigation?" she asked. "Why the hell are you interested in that?"

"It's a long story," said Tali. "Too long for here..."

"What it whittles down to is that my quarian friend here has evidence that can implicate Saren in the attack," Jodie said.

Sura blinked, her face remaining expressionless. "A quarian," she said quietly, though her voice betrayed no hint of surprise. Sura leaned over, looking at Tali. "What's this evidence?"

"It's an audio recording I recovered from a geth memory drive," Tali said.

Sura frowned. "I see..." She shook her head, chuckling. "Leave it to the quarians to find a way to get past those things nuking themselves when you try to pry them open." She then nodded, looking right at Tali. "And I'm guessing it's irrefutable."

"It is," said Tali. "Where's your investigator? I'm not handing this information over to anyone else."

"I don't know," said Sura. She then leaned towards her terminal. "Officially, the investigation was closed recently, but if I remember the investigator right..."

Jodie leaned forward. "So they closed the investigation before it yielded any results?" she asked. "That doesn't sound fair."

"Well, Spectres are all above the law these days," Sura said. She scoffed, shaking her head in dismay. "That's why I'm sticking to my C-SEC job, thank you very much." She then typed a few things into the terminal, looking intently at it. Some information flashed on the screen in text Jodie was not familiar with, but before she could ask, Sura nodded. "Ah."

"What is it?" asked Tali as she leaned forward, her head tilting to the side.

"You're in luck," Sura said, clearly pleased by what she saw. "The officer in charge of the investigation was Officer Garrus Vakarian. He's actually known for playing fast and loose with the rules, so if anything he wouldn't be stopped by Pallin officially closing the investigation." Sura looked over at Jodie with a light smirk on her face. "I don't know where he is now, but give me a few minutes to place a couple of calls and he'll be running over here." She frowned then. "Unless Xerxes meant to call me?"

"Yeah, he did," said Jodie.

Sura nodded. "That wouldn't surprise me," said Sura. "He's probably trapped with Executor Pallin." Sura shook her head as she opened her omni-tool. "He's a damn good executor, but you'll find me in bed with a Blue Suns merc well before he stops being a stubborn old fart." She paused immediately, looking at hte ground. "Or maybe Xerxes is trapped with one of the secretaries." She gave a dismissive wave of her hand, and then turned her attention to Jodie and Tali. "I'll contact Officer Vakarian myself. In the meantime, you should stay where I can see you two."

Tali nodded. "Of course," she said. She then looked at Sura as she opened up some contact information on the omni-tool. "Oh, and I may have informed the Shadow Broker about this. I was going to hand the information to him, but..." She then glanced at Jodie. "Jodie changed my mind."

"Well, he certainly wouldn't be happy about that, that's for sure," said Sura. "But don't you worry about him. Once Officer Vakarian gets here, he'll take care of the rest." Sura chuckled. "Knowing him, it'll probably end in a firefight, but he'll just brush it off as 'it got the job done'."

Tali nodded. "Thank you," she said.

"Just sit tight, kiddo," Sura replied. "This might take a bit of time." She then turned to her omni-tool, waiting for the call to pick up.

Jodie nodded, looking at Tali. Tali nodded in turn, and Jodie thought she could sense a great sense of relief within the quarian.

"Thank you..." said Tali. "You've been a huge help."

"I'm... I'm glad I could help," Jodie supplied, smiling at Tali. "Come on. Let's go take a seat."

* * *

Jodie and Tali ended up sitting for quite some time, the two of them watching Sura as she continued working. Officer Vakarian was on his way, according to Sura: personally, Jodie could not wait another second for Officer Vakarian to appear. She had just gotten off the line with Xerxes to update him on their status, and that left everyone in a rather good position. All that was left was to wait for Officer Vakarian to appear. And as the lights from the Citadel shone through the windows behind them, the two women could sigh in relief.

Jodie leaned back in her chair, sparing a glance at where she figured Aiden was hovering. She crossed her arms before looking right at Tali.

"Are you all right?" Jodie asked.

"I think I will be, soon enough," Tali replied. "Do you think the Council will keep me safe?"

Jodie shrugged. "I'm sure they'll find some way to keep you safe," she said. "I mean, this'll help keep lots of humans safe, so..."

"I hope it does," Tali said. She sighed. "I do wonder what the Reapers are, though..."

"Yeah, I heard that in the audio," Jodie said. "Did you find anything?"

"Well..." Tali looked at her omni-tool, and then took a glance around them before shaking her head. "I have the data. I can't show it to you here. But according to what I was able to extract, the Reapers are some kind of sentient alien ship. The geth worship them..."

Jodie's brows furrowed in concentration. She turned her gaze to the floor, a thought occurring to her right then. "Do you think Saren got their allegiance by promising the return of the Reapers?" she asked.

"Probably," Tali said. "Knowing what I've seen so far, it wouldn't surprise me." She turned her attention to Jodie. "Why do you ask?"

"Well..." Jodie looked up. "I guess you could say that it's a combination of my quarian friend wondering about it, and something else..."

"Curiosity?" Tali asked.

Jodie paused, glancing at the air around her before shrugging. "Sure," she said. "We'll go with that." She smiled. "Well, after this, you'll-"

And then her omni-tool opened of its own volition. In surprise, Jodie jumped in her seat, Tali reacting in much the same way Jodie did. When Jodie looked at her omni-tool, she saw that the word processor was open, and that there was a message in a large type-face that she did not remember writing down. She blinked, glancing at Tali to see she had calmed down, before looking at the message to read:

" _LOOK OUT JODIE BAD GUY WINDOW_ "

Jodie briefly looked at the message, her breath catching when she realized that the only thing that could type up a message like this quickly enough would be Aiden. Immediately, she turned towards the windows to see a few men wearing all-black armor through the windows. She counted at least nine people in this strange armor, and when she turned her attention away from them she saw that there were a few civilians running away in fear.

When Jodie saw these men draw their weapons, however, she knew something was horribly wrong.

"Holy-Tali,  _get down!_ "

Jodie shouted this last bit right before harshly gripping Tali's shoulder and pushing her to the ground. Jodie threw herself defensively on top of Tali, right before a hail of automatic gunfire sprayed the rest of the C-SEC office. The glass above them held under the initial blast of firepower, but the sound that came from them was still immense. Still, it gave the C-SEC officers behind them enough time to bark orders before the next barrage of fire shattered all the glass. Jodie felt some of the glass cut rather deeply into her left arm.

"Fuck!" Her arm twitched in pain, but Jodie held fast above Tali. She quickly raised her head, seeing some of the armored people advance. She then looked up at the air, breathing in quickly as she helped Tali into a crouching position.  _Aiden, help!_

Jodie looked back at Sura's position to see that she was taking cover behind her desk, a standard-issue-looking pistol in her hand. "Come on!" Sura shouted. "Get over here!"

Jodie nodded, and then looked to Tali. The quarian nodded, and then she and Jodie were running over behind the desk as quickly as they could run. Jodie heard the spray of more gunfire from the armored men, but Jodie and Tali were able to jump behind Sura's desk with no difficulty whatsoever. Jodie's back slammed against the hard metal of the desk, and she looked at Sura quickly as she took a few shots at the armored men.

The asari then knelt down and looked at Jodie and Tali. "These better not be what I think they are," she said.

"Are they?" asked Jodie. "I don't know myself!"

"And neither do I," Tali said. She then glanced over cover, only to quickly settle back in as a mass accelerator round narrowly passed her head. "Keelah, what do we do?"

"Well, we call for back-up, that's what," said Sura. She then opened her omni-tool, starting a call. "Officer Vakarian, we have some armed gunmen on our position, over!"

As Sura began to go into a conversation with Officer Vakarian, Jodie looked past the cover. Her brow furrowed, and then she turned to Tali. "Either Saren is getting desperate, or Fist has a  _lot_ more resources than we thought he did," she said.

"Keelah..." Tali looked at Jodie. "What do we do?"

"Well, we can't leave, so..." Jodie scanned the area around her. "We could always help."

Tali nodded. "I was thinking the same thing." The quarian then pulled something that looked like a mine from within her suit. "I think this could help."

Jodie looked at Tali, and then bowed her head in confirmation. "I'll try to get a weapon from one of the downed soldiers," she said. "Don't worry about me. Just do your thing."

"Okay," said Tali. She then pressed a little button on the mine, looking at the C-SEC officers around her. "Keep your heads down!"

The C-SEC officers looked at Tali, right as she lobbed the mine over Sura's desk. The C-SEC officers ducked immediately, sensing what it might be. It was fortuitous for them, too: as soon as the mine impacted with the ground, a bright flash shone through the area for a split second. However, Jodie knew in the field of battle that a split second was all it could take.

And indeed, when she peered out of cover, Jodie saw some of the armored men looking a little dazed out of cover. That was when the C-SEC officers resumed opening fire, leaving Jodie to scan the area for anyone who was close enough to them...

And then, she saw one of the armored units fall over, a pistol falling out of his hands. Or, it looked like a pistol, at any rate. It was a little large for one, but Jodie knew that it might do well for her since it seemed small enough. Her eyes then fell on a desk that was close to the pistol, and immediately a small plan formed in her mind.

Jodie looked up to where she speculated Aiden might be.  _Okay, Aiden, you see that pistol over there? Get it close to that desk,_ she thought. She then concentrated on the desk, getting to her feet and steeling herself to run for the desk.

_One... two..._   _ **three!**_

Jodie broke out into a very quick sprint, being careful to keep her head down. As soon as she ran, the pistol on the ground was launched towards the desk at a pretty good speed, skidding to a stop exactly where Jodie needed it to be before she was even halfway to the desk. As soon as Jodie got close to the pistol, she skidded to a halt. As she skidded, she grabbed the pistol with her right hand, and as soon as she had the pistol she turned so that her back collided against the desk.

She then immediately popped out of cover, firing a single shot at one of the armored men. When she did, though, she found that the pistol's recoil was greater than she expected, so she looked in dismay when she noticed that the shot missed. This all occurred to her in a split second, however, and she quickly corrected her aim and fired a second shot. This shot hit the armored unit in his right shoulder, which caused him to stumble back but did no real damage. She watched another's shot take this unit down, and her concentration turned immediately to the armored turian behind him.

She pulled the trigger, getting a shot on the turian's torso just before he released a burst of automatic fire in her direction. Jodie ducked behind the desk, looking to Sura and Tali as they maintained cover. Sura popped out of cover just then, shooting at another person before she was forced back into cover. Tali remained in cover, and that was the point at which Jodie popped out of cover again and shot at an armored salarian several times. However, right as she felt she had a kill shot, the gun clicked, and that was when she heard some kind of strange beeping.

Jodie retreated into cover, looking at the weapon in confusion. "Did I just...?" She then shook her head, remembering what she had read about weapons that used mass accelerator rounds. She then looked at the gun, hoping it would cool down quickly enough for her to use again.

She then settled back, looking ahead at-

Jodie heard a loud boom, and suddenly she was pushed back against the desk with some amount of force. When she was able to open her eyes, she saw that a bunch of dust was floating everywhere. She then found herself scrambling to new cover, noticing the hole that had opened up there. Briefly, she saw Sura and Tali doing the same, Jodie flattening her back against a different part of a desk further into the office as she glanced first at where the windows had shattered, and then to where the hole had opened up.

_Dammit..._ she thought. She then glanced up.  _Aiden, help us here!_

Jodie turned her attention to the hole, seeing a lot of mass accelerator fire originating from the hole. She faintly noticed that the dust had not settled, this information registering in her head as she fired blindly into the hole that had opened up. Thankfully, the gun did not beep, so Jodie assumed that the gun had cooled down by then. She glanced over at Sura, who was keeping Tali low to the ground while peering out and shooting. Jodie figured that-

And then, she saw Sura light up a little bit. She blinked in shock as the asari then got out of cover, and brought her arm forward. A single man was pulled through the dust at a rather slow speed, and then Jodie watched as Sura fired several shots into the floating target, the target falling to the ground dead after a few seconds.

Jodie sat there in awe for a few seconds, never having seen a biotic before. Sure, she had read all about biotics on the extranet, but she had never seen one in action. It alarmed her how little it was like having Aiden on her side. She had thought of maybe using the biotics to cover Aiden's existence if any governments asked, but she knew that it was impossible now. No matter what, though, she found that it was a rather beautiful sight. And for a second, Jodie felt almost jealous.

The sound of a mass accelerator round impacting against her cover brought Jodie back to reality rather abruptly.  _Dammit, Jodie, now is_ not  _the time_ , she thought. She then looked back to the windows, looking at the black-armored troops there. _  
_

She distinctly saw that one of the soldiers further in the back had stopped trying to advance on their position, though, and was instead aiming at one of his friends. She then watched as the soldier in question fired several volleys of assault bursts into most of his friends from behind. Jodie nodded, sensing that Aiden was behind that one, though unfortunately that soldier's friends realized that something was wrong, and had turned around to try to dispose of him.

This distraction was what most of the other C-SEC officers needed, and they opened fire on all the troops at the window. Jodie sighed in relief, looking over to the hole that had been blown into the wall to see that the dust had finally settled. There were only a few more black-armored guys running over to them. She leaned out of cover to shoot at them-

-and that was when she heard the most primal scream of rage she had ever heard in her life. As this scream sounded, the black-armored men turned to the source of the sound.

This turned out to be a big mistake, because then Jodie saw a figure rush forward holding some kind of light-saber looking object. With this object, the figure bisected the black-armored soldier nearest him very quickly, green blood spewing everywhere. The figure moved on with a frightening speed, immediately stabbing a second figure in the neck and grabbing the arm that was holding a pistol. By the time the remaining soldiers turned and opened fire, this figure was already shooting all of the armored figures with lightning-quick headshots. As the last of the soldiers fell, Jodie then watched as the figure removed his sword, and then turned to one last soldier. The soldier had barely dropped his firearm to run away before the figure  _threw_ the sword at him with enough force that it impaled the poor soldier and sent him flying right into the C-SEC office. Apparently, the throw was also so forceful that the soldier only stopped flying when the sword pinned him against the wall just above Jodie.

Jodie ducked in shock as she beheld this sight, her gaze turning back to the figure. For a split second, she thought she saw his eyes glow like an angry entity, before he stepped into the failing lights of the C-SEC office.

Jodie gasped in shock then, for she realized that she had seen this man on the extranet before. Everything from the black crew cut, to his blue eyes, to the scar that seemed fixed in his hairline, to the hard features of his face... Jodie realized she knew that face.

And as the C-SEC officers stood up, Jodie figured that the realization must have dawned on the other C-SEC officers, too. She looked up in shock, seeing Tali slowly rise up from behind the desk she and Sura were laid behind. Faintly, Jodie saw a bunch of other people enter the room, including two similarly-armored humans, a red-crested krogan, and a turian with blue colony markings on his face.

The man in front of them bowed his head, looking at Tali, all earlier instances of his ferocity seeming to have vanished without a trace.

"Tali!" the man exclaimed, his brows softening in obvious relief. "You're all right..."

The quarian could hardly contain her excitement.

"John!" she exclaimed, jumping over the desk. Tali approached the towering form of John Shepard, the two of them meeting in a rather tight-looking hug where Tali buried her head in John's shoulder. "John! I never thought..."

"I got lucky," Shepard replied, stepping back from Tali. "I happened to run into Officer Vakarian while he was investigating a lead." He shook his head, looking at Tali. "You know, you could've told me you were in danger, Tali. I would've come running."

"Really?" asked Tali. "But there wasn't much you could've done. I mean... I was trying to get the data to-"

"-the embassies, right?" Shepard asks. "You should've asked. I'm now on...  _speaking_ terms with the human ambassador. I could've told him about this." Jodie saw Shepard glare to the side before turning his attention back to Tali. "But me... I'm just glad you're all right. I don't know who to thank, but..."

Tali nodded, looking back at Jodie. "You can thank her," said Tali as she indicated Jodie. "Without her, I probably wouldn't be alive."

Shepard turned to Jodie, and for the briefest of seconds, Jodie thought she could see his brows furrow. His brows instantly returned to normal, though, and he stepped over to Jodie. Jodie took a few steps forward herself, and Shepard walked up to her.

"I see..." said Shepard. "So you helped her out."

"Well, I convinced her not to hand the information out to the Shadow Broker," said Jodie. She then looked at the destruction all around her. "I wish I could say I was responsible for this."

"Just seeing that Tali's okay is enough for me," said Shepard. "I'm-"

"John Shepard, I know," said Jodie quickly. "I... I've read a lot about you on the extranet..." She then chuckled nervously. "I'm... I'm Jodie. Jodie Holmes."

Shepard nodded. "Thank you, Jodie," he said. He then looked at the turian, and it was then that Jodie saw that the turian was wearing blue C-SEC armor. "Officer Vakarian, I think Tali's the quarian you're looking for."

Jodie frowned as the turian then walked over to Tali. "Ah, so that was Officer Vakarian, huh?" Jodie nodded. "I guess it's good he found you when he did."

"He had gone to Dr. Michel for a lead," Shepard said. "It's actually a pretty long story, but I'm glad she's okay." Shepard looked at Jodie seriously. "I don't think I can thank you enough for that. So thank you."

Jodie nodded. "You're welcome," she said. She then looked at the C-SEC office around them. "This is going to take a while, isn't it?"

"Yep." Jodie and Shepard turned to look at Sura as she approached them. "Sorry to have to cut the party short, but I'm sure you've noticed that we were under attack for a bit." The asari turned to Shepard. "Sorry. I'm Officer T'lonya." She nodded to Shepard. "I understand that Tali has some important intel, but as you can see..." She glanced around the office. "I will have to ask you and everyone you came with to stay put for a brief period of time. The testimony collection will go much faster if you do that."

Jodie briefly saw Shepard curl his hands into fists, but Shepard simply exhaled. "Of course, officer," he said. "Make it fast, though."

"We'll see what we can do," said Sura. She looked over at the black-armored men. "I get the feeling this more than proves Saren's involvement. He must've been pretty desperate to keep that intel hidden. I also get the feeling he had his agents impersonate the Broker's army."

"How do you know that?" Jodie asked.

"I don't, but that's what subsequent detective work is for, isn't it?" Sura nodded immediately. "I don't think you'll be held long."

"I hope not," Shepard agreed. "This intel is important."

Sura chuckled darkly. "If Saren was willing to blow up a C-SEC office to keep the intel from reaching the Council, I don't doubt it," she replied. "I'll let you know when you can go. For now, stay put."

"Of course," Shepard said.

* * *

It actually took a little bit of time to clear out the C-SEC office. Thankfully, none of the C-SEC officers around Jodie were fatally wounded, even if there were a few injuries that were rather serious and required some hospitalization. Nobody that was at the scene at the time had moved too far, though thankfully the gathering of certain pieces of information went by rather quickly. Jodie looked at where the glass had cut her left arm, lightly rubbing the place where some C-SEC officer had rubbed it down with medigel.

She shook her head, chuckling nervously at the whole thing. She never thought that any day that began with hearing about Eden Prime would end with her having been in a shoot-out in a police office of all things, but there it was. Jodie was actually surprised that it was as surreal for her as it was, considering that she had already taken part in a shoot-out in a police office at least once in her life. She thought back to that lone police officer, hoping he was still alive. The poor man had actually been a very nice person: he couldn't have known about the fact that she was on the run. She hoped he was still all right somewhere...

She heard someone sit to her left. Jodie turned to look, recognizing one of the humans that came in with Shepard. Her skin looked somewhat naturally dark, black hair tied in a bun. Jodie found herself bewildered at why she was wearing white and pink armor, but at the same time she could not criticize this lady's fashion sense.

"Been a rough day, huh?" this stranger asked.

Jodie nodded, looking ahead of her. "You... you could say that," said Jodie. She shook her head. "I didn't think I'd be rescuing a quarian, but... you know how it is."

"Yeah." The woman leaned back. She then turned to look at Jodie. "Sorry, I don't think we've met."

"That's because I only saw you briefly in that C-SEC office," Jodie replied. She held out her hand. "Jodie Holmes."

The woman nodded, taking her hand firmly. "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams," she replied. "Systems Alliance."

Jodie nodded. "So you're Alliance, huh?" Jodie asked.

"As is Shepard," Ashley said, gesturing to where Shepard was talking to Tali, Officer Vakarian, and the krogan that had come with. "In fact, we saw Saren there on Eden Prime."

"I see..." Jodie nodded, looking at Ashley. "Are you all right after all that? I mean..."

"I... could be better, I guess," Ashley said with a bitter chuckle. "I was stationed on Eden Prime when the attack happened. I'm all that remains of my unit."

Immediately, Jodie brought her right hand mouth. "Oh... Oh my God..." Jodie looked at Ashley in shock, glancing at the floor for a brief second. "I'm so sorry..."

"Don't be," Ashley said. "They were good men and women, and they fought to protect the colony. That's all that matters."

"Still..." Jodie shook her head.

"Again, we did our best." Ashley nodded a little, and then turned to Jodie. "Thanks for your concern, though. I appreciate it."

Jodie nodded, her hand falling away from her mouth. "You're welcome," she said. She then leaned forward, looking at Shepard and Tali. "So where do we go from here?"

"Well, we'll probably present Tali's evidence to the Council," Ashley said. "Hopefully, they'll see what we've known about Saren. And after that... who knows?"

Jodie nodded. "I guess you're pulling me along when you tell the Council, then?" she asked.

"I would say so," said Ashley. "At least, Shepard probably will, after everything you did to help Tali out."

"Well, as long as it gets the evidence to them, I don't really mind," Jodie said. She looked over at Ashley. "At any rate, we're probably going to head up to the Council chambers soon, right?"

"I think so," said Ashley. She then patted Jodie on the shoulder. "I guess we should talk to Shepard, no?"

"Yeah, we probably should," said Jodie. "Come on."

And with this, the two women stood up, walking over to Shepard as he finished talking to Tali and to Officer Vakarian.


	5. Chapter 4

 

The embassy was a rather small office, with a desk close by the door. As Jodie entered behind everyone else, she saw to rather dark-skinned men standing there, one of them looking considerably rugged and the other just looking... old. The old looking guy looked  _very_ angry, and he sent a rather frightening glare at Shepard the instant he entered the room.

"You're not making my life easy, Shepard," the older-looking man said, his voice straining with barely-contained rage. "Firefights in the wards? An all-out assault on Chora's Den? All that is bad enough, but then a C-SEC office is blown up too? Do you know how-?" He then set his eyes on Tali, blinking in surprise. All of his rage seemed to evaporate immediately. "Who's this? A quarian? What are you up to, Shepard?"

"Tali'Zorah has evidence that can implicate Saren in the attack," said Shepard. He then shifted on his feet. "As for the C-SEC office, that explosion happened before I could get there."

"Oh, so it wasn't  _you_ that blew up that C-SEC office," said the older man. He looked only slightly relieved at this. "That makes my life slightly easier.  _Slightly_." He then turned his attention to Tali. "We should start from the beginning. Why did you leave the Flotilla?"

Tali then began to explain in detail. As Tali talked about the evidence involved, Jodie found herself tuning out of the conversation. She had already heard most of the relevant information from Kalo and even from Tali herself; she doubted she needed everything explained to her at that point. Her mind thus wandered away from the conversation, to everyone around her.

As Tali and the others talked on, she concentrated her attention on the more rugged-looking man as he contributed a line or two to the proceedings. Jodie noticed that he was wearing some kind of informal-looking military uniform all in blue. Jodie immediately felt a pang of discomfort affecting her, and before he could notice her she had turned away, taking a sudden interest in the wall across from him.

 _He's probably not the same as General McGrath was, but still..._ She shook her head, closing her eyes and turning her attention to Aiden.  _Aiden, do you think we're going to get involved in... whatever they'll do after this?_

Aiden whooshed, the length of the tone betraying the entity's apprehension. Jodie nodded.

She remained silent as the conversation ran its course. She found herself swallowing a lump that formed in her throat, and then she began actually paying attention to what was said in the conversation.

* * *

Before she knew it, Jodie was standing further back in the Council Chambers, looking on with a few people from the rest of the crew. Tali was there presenting her evidence, and she saw the two men from the office standing by Shepard. She had learned that their names were Anderson and Udina, and that Anderson was the captain of Shepard's ship. That was  _all_ she had learned, though.

Jodie remained close by them, though, even if she was not exactly close enough to contribute to the Council's conversation. Since there was little she could contribute other than that she saved Tali, she watched the action from afar with the others on the crew. Her gaze turned towards Ashley and Officer Vakarian as they sort of stared at each other before she looked up at the top of the Presidium. She wondered if the human man she had seen with the crew was busy looking out to the rest of the Council Chambers. Jodie did have to admit, she was  _not_ expecting a governmental chamber to ever be as large as this one. She could not quite place what it was about the room that reminded her of some places of the last DPA facility she was ever in, but-

"Hmph. So the quarian needed a runt to save her."

Jodie was shocked out of her thoughts by the deep, rumbling voice. She then turned to see the krogan she had seen with the crew. From a distance he had looked pretty imposing, but from this closer distance the krogan towered over her. Jodie looked up at the large alien as he stared down at her.

Nevertheless, Jodie was not intimidated. "Really? I'm short?" she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She looked at the krogan with a pointed expression. "Thanks for the...  _astute_  observation."

The krogan looked down at her, before turning his attention to the Council meeting. "I'm surprised that turian didn't snap you in half," he said. "You look like the type that would be snapped in half by a turian."

Jodie shook her head. "Well, never underestimate the short ones," she said. She looked ahead. "You never know what can happen there."  _And I had Aiden_ , she thought.  _That helped quite a bit._

"Hmph." The krogan cast a side-long glance at the Council before he turned to Jodie. "Well, I guess I can't say for sure if I wasn't there, but I'm guessing you shot the bastard."

"Nope," Jodie replied. "I just got really lucky that he managed to get into a position where I could snap his neck with my foot." She shook her head. "I haven't fired a mass accelerator weapon before today, actually."

"What, did you get your firearms training shooting old guns?" the krogan asked.

Jodie chuckled at this, giving the krogan a small smile. "I did, actually," she replied. "It's all a sheltered girl can get on Earth, you know."

"So this is your first time off your own pile of rock, huh?" the krogan asked.

"Yes," said Jodie. She then looked over to the krogan, noticing the deep scar in his head crest. "And what about you? You look like you've seen a lot of action."

"I have," said the krogan. He then gave Jodie a rather harsh look. "Don't get too comfortable. This galaxy isn't a nice place, runt."

Jodie could only sigh. "Earth wasn't a nice place either," she replied. "Trust me, I've seen lots of things in my life."

"And so have I," said the krogan. "This galaxy will kick you in the ass sooner or later. Wouldn't be surprised if it happened quickly, actually. That tends to happen to runts."

And with this, the krogan lumbered off. Jodie looked after him, shaking her head as he walked over to Officer Vakarian. Jodie noticed that his walk was deliberate, and that he rejoined Ashley and Officer Vakarian. She saw him say something, but the things he said went unnoticed by Jodie. She could tell from Ashley's subsequent facepalm, however, that it was not something good.

It was then that the human man she had seen with Shepard's posse came forward. He offered Jodie a rather apologetic look as he approached. Jodie blinked, never really having gotten a good look at him until then. She was taken with how someone in the military could still have such a boyishly handsome look about him, and with hair like that as well.

"Sorry about Wrex," he said. "I've only met him recently, but he's not that abrasive..." He shrugged. "I guess he's just used to working alone."

"Well, he is right about one thing," Jodie said. She then pointed at herself. "I mean, look at how short I am!"

"Well, I don't know how it is with krogan, but for me that doesn't make much of a difference," the human said, casting a glance at Wrex. He then turned to Jodie, extending a hand out in greeting. "I'm sorry, I don't think we've introduced. I'm Kaidan Alenko. And you are... Jodie, no?"

"I am," said Jodie. She took Kaidan's hand and shook it rather quickly. "I'm sorry... This whole situation is surreal."

"I can't say I blame you for that," he said. He looked over to the meeting. "I don't know if Shepard has told you much of what will happen after this, yet."

"He hasn't," Jodie said. She glanced to the side. "I know we had a couple minutes on the way up here, and I noticed that he and Tali were talking." She frowned, looking over at Kaidan. "They look like they've known each other a while."

Kaidan nodded. "I know him well enough to know how he is around Tali," he said as he crossed his arms. "But it's not my business to tell you how they met. They've known each other for a while, actually." He glanced up. "They might've talked about you a little. They might ask if you have anything right now..."

"Well..." Jodie shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't really have that much at the moment."

"You don't look like you do," Kaidan commented. "I heard somewhere in their talking that they want to take you along."

Jodie's eyes widened slightly, but other than that she gave no indication of surprise. "They think so?" she asked. She paused, her thoughts immediately turning to Kalo'Veera. "I mean, what I do have... I've just gotten into a routine, and... I don't know if I can give it up so quickly..."

"You might not have a choice," said Kaidan. "You know more about Saren than most in the galaxy, and I suspect that he might try to find you somehow. You've seen how deep his pockets are." He shook his head. "He even bought Fist out."

Jodie blinked, looking at Kaidan with the surprise clearly showing on her face this time. "Wait, what?" she asked.

"It's why Wrex got involved," Kaidan said as he looked at the krogan. "Saren paid Fist to eliminate your friend. It was apparently enough to persuade him from working for the Shadow Broker, because then the Shadow Broker hired Wrex to eliminate Fist."

"Damn..." Jodie looked down, shaking her head. "If we had gone into that meeting..."

"Exactly," said Kaidan as he turned to Jodie. "It might be safer for you on the Normandy. Saren would never dare go there, not unless he's really desperate."

Jodie nodded. "I see..." She glanced to the side, feeling guilty that she would soon have to leave Kalo alone in the shelter. "Dammit... Right when I think my life is going to be normal again..." She shook her head, before looking at Kaidan with her eyebrows drooped in dismay. "I'm sorry. I have some generally terrible luck in life."

Kaidan looked at her expectantly. "I guess it's a long story, huh?" he asked.

Jodie looked up to where she figured Aiden was hanging about, shaking her head in dismay. " _Very_ long story," she replied. She looked down, her gaze directed at a point beneath the floor. "I guess I can adapt..." She sighed, looking to Kaiden. "I don't know."

Kaidan offered Jodie a disarming smile, and for a second Jodie forgot what was plaguing her. "I guess we'll see," he said. "It may not be so bad."

"I hope not," Jodie replied. She looked over to the meeting right as Shepard stepped up to a podium. Her attention was then pulled there as one of the Councillors (the asari one, Jodie noticed) made a grand gesture and began to speak.

"Do you think?" Jodie asked, remembering that Shepard had been considered a candidate for the first human Spectre.

"I think so," Kaidan said. "I never thought I'd see this happen in my lifetime."

"Me neither," Jodie commented. "But there we are."

Kaidan chuckled in reply. "There we are indeed," he agreed.

And so, the two of them stood there, watching as Shepard was bestowed the title of First Human Spectre by the Council.

* * *

The ceremony was actually much shorter than Jodie thought it would be. She realized she probably should not have been so surprised at how short it was considering it was just officiating the induction of a new special forces officer, but she thought there would be more to it given that Shepard was the first human Spectre. In any event, though, it happened, and even though Jodie did not quite feel the sense of accomplishment that the entire rest of humanity was likely feeling at that moment, she felt happy for them nonetheless.

 _After all, this is a pretty major event for them_ , she thought.  _What's not to be happy about?_

As soon as that thought crossed Jodie's mind, Shepard came up to the group. He looked in Jodie's direction, with Tali by his side and Anderson and Udina trailing along behind him. Shepard subsequently beckoned Jodie towards him with a small hand gesture. Without hesitating, Jodie walked up to Shepard. Aiden clicked uncertainly as she did this, but Jodie paid him no mind.

"Jodie Holmes, hm?" Shepard asked.

"Yes," said Jodie. She then gestured to Kaidan as Shepard stopped. "Kaidan was just telling me that you're thinking about conscripting me onto the Normandy."

"I am," said Shepard. He then looked behind him to Anderson. "Tali tells me you fended off a fully-grown turian by yourself, which is no small feat considering... well..." He then gestured to Jodie.

"Yeah, don't remind me," Jodie said, giving Wrex a look that was not truly a glare. "Your krogan friend took care of that alreay..."

Shepard chuckled as he looked at Wrex. "Don't mind him," said Shepard. "I get the feeling he's your typical old krogan." He looked at Jodie. "Tali also tells me you kept your own in a firefight, though she indicated you did have some trouble firing a pistol at first."

"I've handled firearms before, but mostly older models," Jodie replied. "That was the first time I've ever handled a mass accelerator gun." She glanced to the side. "But I can get around in places without being seen. I was trained mainly as a stealth operative by the people I used to...  _work_ with back home."

"Who did you use to work for?" Shepard asked.

"I..." Jodie paused, feeling awkward at being put on the spot like that. She then cleared her throat, a perturbed expression on her face as she continued. "It was a small gang. You wouldn't know who they were." She shook her head.

"Well, that's something to add to the team, Jo-Shepard," said Tali, glancing at the ground.

"I guess it is," said Shepard. "You never know when stealth might be handy, though I do wonder how good she is at it. But since we'll be conscripting her anyway, I think we will have plenty of opportunity to check that." He then looked to Anderson. "I'm adding her to my team, Captain. At this stage, I believe there may be something she can contribute."

Anderson nodded. "I hope you're right, Shepard," he said. "I trust your judgement, but I'm sure the Alliance won't like that you're conscripting everyone you've met today onto the crew."

"What was the Normandy originally built as? Collaboration." Shepard nodded. "I think the Alliance brass can deal with some non-human crew members." He then turned his attention to Jodie. "Do you need to pick up anything?"

"I do," said Jodie. She looked over at the others. "I guess the others do too?"

"Only Garrus, but we have time before the Normandy takes off," Shepard said. "I'll brief you on the specifics of the mission on the Normandy."

Jodie tilted her head to the side. "The Normandy?" she asked.

"Yes," said Shepard. He gave her a brief smile that felt a little lop-sided for some reason. "You're going on there."

Jodie nodded, though for a second she could've sworn she heard Aiden trill in alarm. "I... All right." She shook her head. "Sorry. I'm still processing most of what's going on right now."

"You have nothing to be sorry about," said Shepard. "You should be proud, really. You helped expose a dirty Spectre, and you saved my friend."

"I guess so," said Jodie, chuckling nervously. She nodded. "Well... in this case, we should go get my stuff then, shouldn't we?"

"I would say so," said Shepard. "Let's take care of that."

And with this, Shepard walked towards the elevators, the rest of the group falling into step alongside him. Jodie followed, her heart beating at a faster pace than normal, stealing a glance at Anderson as she moved. She immediately looked away, glancing up at where she assumed Aiden was. Her gaze turned to everyone else, people who she knew would likely find out about Aiden sooner or later, and people who would likely...

Jodie closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm her nerves.  _It's okay,_  she said.  _You can do this, Jodie. You can figure this out... You figured it out with Stan and Jay, you can figure it out here too..._

She shook her head, shaking hands she only then realized were feeling rather tense. She then walked on, trying not to pay attention to the people around her as she figured out the best way to approach everyone about Aiden.

* * *

Eventually, though, she returned to the shelter, her heart heavy as she came to the realization that she'd have to leave Kalo behind. She surprised herself with how much she realized she would miss that quarian. She knew that she had his contact information on her omni-tool, though, so she understood that maybe it would not be a permanent goodbye, and that helped ease everything. Still, there was something about not seeing him every day that she would miss.

And as she stood in front of the door to her room, she sighed.

"Well, might as well get this over with," she said to herself.

With this, she entered the room. As soon as she did, she saw that Kalo was standing, probably even pacing away from the door. The quarian turned upon hearing Jodie enter, and then Jodie noticed as his body tensed for the briefest of seconds.

"J... Jodie!" Kalo ran up to her and gave her a very tight hug. " _Keelah_ , Jodie, you are safe!" He exhaled in relief. "Please do not frighten me like that again."

"K-Kalo... Can't... breathe..." Jodie forced out.

At that point, Kalo lessened the hug. "I am sorry," said Kalo. "But when I heard that you were involved in that shoot-out in that C-SEC office, and with you not returning here, and..." He sighed. "I am glad you are all right.  _Keelah_ , Jodie..."

Jodie was at a loss for words for a few seconds, and she cleared her throat. "I... Thank you," said Jodie. She shook her head. "I'm sorry, it's been a  _really_ weird day."

"I should say," said Kalo. "What happened?"

"A  _lot_ ," said Jodie as she walked over to the bed. "I ran into a quarian who was on the run from being killed by this turian assassin, and then before I know it I'm trying to protect someone with valuable evidence against Saren."

Kalo blinked. "Saren?" he asked. "The turian Spectre?"

"Yeah, turns out he  _was_ behind the attack on Eden Prime after all..." Jodie said.

" _Keelah_..." Kalo half-whispered. "Jodie, that... And you survived that?"

"I did," Jodie replied. "Though the fact that I did get saved by Commander Shepard himself didn't hurt, I have to say."

Kalo stared, and by now Jodie was sure his jaw would have torn through his suit and hit the floor. "C... Commander Shepard?" he asked. "Jodie, this is... this is difficult to believe."

"It is, isn't it?" she said, rubbing the back of her head. "I guess that's part of why I still haven't come to terms with it." She sighed, looking at Kalo regretfully. "Unfortunately, Kalo... I'm going to have to leave now. When I saved the evidence... well..."

"What?" Kalo looked at Jodie, leaning forward. "You..." He paused, looking down to the side. "You have been...  _conscripted_ , then?"

"Yeah," Jodie said, crossing her arms. "I'm sorry, Kalo, but this only came up recently."

Kalo nodded. "No, I understand," he said. "You may be safer wherever they put you." He paused, and it was then that Jodie noticed that his shoulders slumped slightly. "Still, I will miss seeing you here." He sighed, looking at Jodie. "You have been..."

Jodie nodded, walking up to Kalo nervously. "I know," she said. "I'm sorry..."

"Do not apologize," said Kalo, his voice uncharacteristically somber. "It is through no fault of your own." He looked at Jodie. "I hope it is not. I trust that you would not lie to me."

"No, I'm being honest here," she said. "I'm going to have to leave now..." She looked down for a second, and then back at Kalo with a hopeful expression on her face. "I... I have your extranet address, though, don't I?"

"You do," said Kalo, still looking down at the ground. "You have never used it though. At least, not to my knowledge."

"Well... I think I should get better about that, don't you?" she asked, patting Kalo on the arm and giving him a reassuring smile.

Kalo looked at Jodie, and she noticed that Kalo's eyes looked a little brighter behind that mask. "As should I," Kalo replied, giving a slight chuckle. "It has been a strange feeling, having to contact people again. But I can make an exception."

Jodie's smile only brightened, and she nodded. "Good." She said. "Good..." She looked to the door, before slowly turning and getting her guitar. "I just... I needed to get this. I'm sure you understand."

"I do," said Kalo. He chuckled nervously. "I... Maybe if you are in the Citadel again, we can see each other again?"

Jodie nodded, looking at Kalo. "Yeah..." she said. "Yeah. I'd like that."

"As would I," said Kalo. "Be sure to let me know when you are in the Citadel."

Jodie paused as she nodded in Kalo's direction. The two of them looked at each other, with Jodie meeting Kalo's gaze. The two of them looked at each other, Jodie feeling warm. She was unused to this: throughout her life, goodbyes had been hard, cold, sudden, and mostly full of hard feelings. The closest she got to a farewell like this was with Jay and Corey, and even then she had a rather intense feeling of regret that she didn't save their father from the wound inflicted by Ye'ittsoh. But here... There was still regret, but Jodie was feeling... She could not describe it as happiness, but it was a feeling similar to that.

And it was with this that she advanced towards Kalo and wrapped her free arm around him. Kalo was quick to reciprocate the gesture, holding Jodie close to him. Jodie thought she felt one of the pieces of Kalo's suit poke against her body, but she found she could not bring herself to care. The two of them held the hug for a few seconds, with Jodie sighing against Kalo.

They then parted. "I'll send a message tonight," she said. "Once I'm all settled in..."

"I look forward to it," said Kalo. "Until next time?"

"Until next time," Jodie replied. She walked to the door, but paused upon getting there. She cast a final glance at Kalo, looking at the quarian as he looked at her. The look he gave was undecipherable from where Jodie stood, but she had a feeling from the way that Kalo held himself that it was the kind of look he would give when wishing her well.

She gave Kalo one final smile, and then left the room slowly, but with purpose.

* * *

When she stepped out of the shelter, the group made a beeline straight for the Normandy. Jodie had never even seen pictures of the ship, let alone seen the ship in person, and she found herself wondering what was in store for her there. She kept her mind open to any possibilities: after all, she had not had the time to look up the ships of the Alliance Navy, and her own time in various DPA facilities told her that she should be prepared for literally anything.

And it was with this that she stood in the elevator with everyone else. She remained quiet, keeping her guitar case close at hand. The ride seemed to take forever, though Jodie realized this might have had something to do with the fact that it was a rather slow elevator. She wondered what kinds of conversations could be had in there, but she brushed these thoughts out of her mind quickly. She would find out pretty quickly anyway, especially if Shepard were to return to the Citadel a few times. She had the feeling this might happen, and the thought of getting to meet up with Kalo and Xerxes and Sura again warmed her heart.

Her attention turned to the others, who had somehow managed to fit in the elevator without cramming in there. Jodie was sure that Wrex alone would be enough to crowd them out of the elevator, but thankfully that was not a problem. Jodie supposed that her diminuitive height did have something to do with it, but her greater thought was that everyone would get to see the Normandy together. She wondered how the Normandy was laid out, how sleeping accommodations worked, and what would happen with her once she was on board.

But most of all, Jodie was admittedly very nervous about this whole scenario, to the point that it was giving her flashbacks about when she arrived at boot camp to get training as a CIA agent. That same feeling of trepidation came over her, and she found herself trying to calm her breathing a little bit. She hoped that Shepard and the Alliance would not use her for their own ends. If she found evidence of that, she did not quite know how she would be able to get out of there.

 _Well, at least I can't get brought in for treason_ , she thought.  _Unless desertion is punished just as bad here..._

After quite a lengthy period of musing, though, the elevator came to a halt, and then the elevator doors opened out to some dock. She glanced to the side as everyone filed out, with Shepard crossing his arms. She herself stepped out, looking ahead to see that Anderson had somehow beaten them to the Normandy.

And then she turned her gaze to the left, and her heart stopped at what she saw.

There, clamped to the dock through something obviously magnetic, was a ship unlike any she had ever seen before. The hull was in a rather sleek shape, with a series of thrusters jutting out of the side of the ship like the wings of a bird of prey. The ship's nose was curved, and the lettering 'SR-1' was displayed rather prominently on the side of the hull. Jodie found herself rushing over to the guard rail to get a better look. The ship was actually quite large, but Jodie knew she had nothing to compare it to. No matter what, she found herself amazed at what she was seeing.

"My God..." said Jodie, looking at the ship. She glanced up at Aiden, before looking back. "This ship..."

"Never seen anything like it, huh?"

Jodie turned to look over at Ashley as she settled in next to Jodie. "Never," said Jodie as she indicated the ship. "I never thought..." She shook her head. "Wow..."

"Wow is right," said Ashley as she looked at the ship. "I didn't get a good look at her the first time I boarded..."

"You must've seen lots of ships before now, though," Jodie replied. "You're probably used to this." She shook her head and turned to look back at the Normandy. "I haven't seen any ships like this in my life..."

"Well, you're gonna get spoiled now," said Ashley. "I've seen a lot more ships, and not all the ships on the Alliance look quite like this. Nor do they run as smoothly, for that matter." She shook her head. "From what I know, the turians had some hand in designing it. I haven't seen an Alliance ship that looked quite this good."

"Really?" Jodie asked. "They designed it with the turians?"

"That's what I heard," said Ashley. "Something about 'spirit of reconciliation' was how they put it." She sighed, though before Jodie could say anything she shrugged. "Well, you gotta give them credit, at least they know how to design things."

Jodie looked at the Normandy, noticing that Ashley's tone had gotten a little harsher. "Something wrong?" she asked.

Ashley nodded. "It's... It's a little personal," she said. "Sorry. I don't feel like talking about it."

"That's fine," Jodie replied. She sighed, looking out to the ship. "We all have things we don't feel like talking about at some point." She shifted her feet nervously, and before Ashley could ask anything Jodie gestured back to the Normandy. "But no, I've never seen anything like this..."

"Well, you haven't seen the interior yet," said Ashley as she gave Jodie a beckoning gesture. "Come on. I get the feeling Shepard is probably going to give you a grand tour or something."

Jodie nodded. "Yeah," she said, following Ashley over to the gangplank leading up to the airlock. "I can't wait to see what's inside this ship..."

"Well, I think you'll probably like it," said Ashley.

* * *

Ashley had indeed been right about that. As soon as Jodie stepped inside the Normandy, it was like she was in a different world altogether.

 _Well, more different than it already is_ , she thought.

She looked around at all the activity around her. There were people running around holding datapads, there were holograms everywhere, the interior was just as slick... And as she walked into what she assumed was the hub of activity on the Normandy, she saw a row of holographic panels all surrounding a holographic display that was projecting an image of the Citadel at that moment. Jodie found herself looking at it, her steps even slowing down a bit as she looked at the hologram. When she followed Shepard further into the hub, she saw that there was even a rather small platform right up close to where the hologram was projecting its image, with a few more terminals lined up next to this platform.

She found her mouth opening in awe of what she was seeing: even having been on the Citadel for a couple of months, Jodie was always amazed at how far technology had progressed. But seeing how it affected the military of the future...

 _And I haven't even seen these guys in action_ , she noted. She whistled as she turned around.

Right when she did, though, she started, and then ran over to the door on the far right as Shepard directed Tali, Wrex, and Officer Vakarian to go through. She rushed out from where she had her little reverie, falling into step with Officer Vakarian. The door closed behind her as she came to stand next to the turian.

The officer chuckled immediately. "Looks like someone's getting a little distracted," he said.

"Sorry," Jodie said. "I... I've never been on a warship before."

"Well, you're in luck," he replied. He nodded, looking over at Jodie. "Sorry, I don't think we talked."

Jodie nodded. "I'm Jodie," she replied. "And I know you're Officer Vakarian."

The turian chuckled. "Call me Garrus," he replied. "Nothing can make a guy feel old faster than calling them by their title."

"Sorry, Off- Garrus..." Jodie replied. She looked ahead as Shepard stopped off into what looked like some kind of small mess hall. She looked around, looking to Shepard.

"So, here we are at the mess hall," said Shepard as the group walked in. "This is where we have the meals, so there shouldn't be too much I should have to say." He then gestured over to a door just to the right of where the tables were. "And that is where the med-bay is. It's manned by one Dr. Chakwas, and you'll be seeing her if you're injured on the battlefield." He shrugged. "I'm sure you won't mind that.

"And over there..." He then gestured to a large group of pod-looking things that were placed further down the room from the tables. At a quick glance, Jodie noticed that they were quite large, yet not large enough to host multiple people. "Over there, we have the sleeping pods." He looked over to them. "Our crew have most of them checked out, but we may be able to get a spare one for one of you."

Jodie walked to the front of the group, looking at the pods in question. "Room for one, huh?" she asked, looking at Shepard.

"You interested?" Shepard asked.

"I think so..." she thought. "I... I kind of prefer having something private to sleep in, to be honest." She then looked at Shepard. "I mean... it's fine if I have to share, but-"

"Don't worry about that," said Shepard. "If you'd prefer that, I'll take care of it."

Jodie paused, her left hand rising slightly in surprise. However, after a second or two, Jodie sighed in relief. "Oh..." She smiled at Shepard. "I... Um..." She paused for a few seconds before chuckling uncomfortably. "Sorry, I'm not used to just hearing things like that from someone."

"Really?" Shepard asked. "Well, in the future, I can always make a conscious effort to change that for you."

"I... That would be great," Jodie said, a smile creeping onto her face. "Thank you."

Shepard nodded. "We'll talk about that later, though," he said. "For now, we have a couple more places to see." He then gestured behind the group, and Jodie turned around to where Shepard had gestured.

Jodie then paused upon turning around, surprised at what she saw. "There's an elevator on this ship?" she asked uncertainly.

"There is," Shepard said.

Jodie crossed her arms. "Huh," she said. She chuckled. "Sorry, it's just... this galaxy is always surprising me."

"Sure sounds like it if you ask me," Wrex replied as he walked over to the elevator. "Let's get this over with."

Jodie turned to Shepard. The commander simply shrugged, walking over to the elevator and pressing the call button. "All right," he said. "Let's tour the hangar bay."

* * *

The hangar bay was a very spacious place, and Jodie suspected that they would have been able to hold quite a bit more inside of there if the Alliance felt like sticking something in there. As it was, though, she noticed that there was a massive vehicle that looked like a cross between a tank and an SUV, as well as various crates strewn off to the sides. There were also a few weapons lockers over to the side, and by that was a table that looked ripe for weapons maintenance. Jodie glanced over at that side of the hangar bay, wondering how Wrex would get used to just sleeping up against the wall.

She then looked down at Garrus from where she was perched in the Mako's doorway, watching as he grabbed his omni-tool and scanned the tank.

"Well, it looks like this won't be a problem," Garrus began as he closed the omni-tool. "Its interfaces seem simple enough, and the tech is pretty easy to get the hang of." He beamed. "Calibrating this old thing will be easy."

"Don't get too excited," Jodie commented. "People might start making calibration jokes."

"Well, when that happens, I'll be ready for them," Garrus replied. He shrugged, looking up at Jodie. "I'm surprised you didn't go into the engine room with Tali and Shepard."

"Well, I don't know enough about all that technical stuff to keep up with Tali," Jodie replied. "If I went in there, I'd be completely lost." She shrugged. "Besides, Shepard and Tali apparently know each other, so I figured I'd let them catch up a little bit." She looked over at the door to the engine room. "They seem to be pretty close."

"Well, don't ask me about that," Garrus said.

"No, I'll ask Tali later," Jodie replied. She looked at the turian. "What I want to know is how  _you_ know so much about tanks."

Garrus shrugged. "Well, I don't know  _that_ much," he replied.

"It's more than I know," Jodie said.

The turian glanced to the side for a few seconds, and then he nodded his agreement. "True," he said. "Well, you know that turians are required to serve in the military at some point, right?"

"Yeah," said Jodie. She pulled her knees up to her chest. "So were you their tank mechanic or something?"

Garrus barked out some kind of strange turian chuckle. "Well, I never handled a toolbox around tanks, so I would say no," he said. "No, I just have enough tech expertise. I was the one who normally calibrated the guns."

Jodie nodded, looking at Garrus intently. "And considering what we see here..." She looked down at the ground, sighing. "I still don't understand why Shepard thought to take me on. I mean..." She looked up at Garrus. "He said something about me coming onto the ground team, right? But what do I have to offer?"

"Well, you were in a firefight in a C-SEC office, and the quarian said that you  _did_ fight off a turian, so there may be something," said Garrus. He then indicated her. "With your height and everything..."

Jodie snorted, looking away. "You're not going to start calling me a runt too, are you?" she asked.

"Well, I wouldn't go  _that_ far," said Garrus as he glared at Wrex where he was cleaning his shotgun across the bay. "But if you can kick a turian's ass at your height, I'll bet there are more surprises where that came from."

Jodie chuckled bitterly. "You can say that," she replied while glancing off to the side. She turned her attention back to the turian, her hands clasping together. "But without knowing any real military weapons..." She shook her head. "Sneaking around can only get you so far, you know?"

"Well, you never know when we might have to infiltrate something," Garrus replied. "It might come in handy then, you know?"

"But until then..." She shook her head. "Also, that firefight in the C-SEC office was the first time I ever fired a weapon with mass accelerator slugs."

"Was it?" Garrus tilted his head to the side as he leaned against the tank. "I wasn't aware people still fired bullets down on Earth."

Jodie paused. "Some people still do," she replied. She looked up. "I mean, I got the hang of that mass accelerator gun pretty quickly, but..." She shook her head. "And I haven't touched an assault weapon either. So I just don't know. Being part of a ground team with a bunch of people with more experience than me..."

"Well, I'm just a cop, and  _I'm_ here, so," Garrus said, his voice trailing off as he casually swept his hand forward.

Jodie put her fingers to her mouth, and a rare giggle came out of her mouth. "That's true," she commented. She sighed, looking at the turian. "I guess we've all got stuff to learn here, right?"

"Seems like it," said Garrus. He then pushed off of the tank. "Well, at least here we won't have to worry about red tape. We can finally do some real good in this galaxy." He then looked to Jodie. "I'm going up the elevator. You coming?"

Jodie shook her head, holding her hand out. "I'm fine," she said. "Thank you, though."

Garrus nodded. "Suit yourself," he said. "I'll see you later."

Jodie nodded. "See you around, Off-Garrus..."

If the turian had been annoyed by this, he certainly did not show it as he walked off towards the elevator. This left Jodie sitting in the mouth of the tank's opening, her legs freely hanging on the side of the tank as she took a final look at the cargo bay around her. She wondered what kinds of adventures would be in store for her. No doubt, there was likely to be a lot of assault. Stealth did not seem to be Shepard's strong suit, and it was something that Jodie knew she would have to get used to. Even when she was facing off against militants in Somalia, she always kept to the shadows. Now that she would be on the front lines...

She shook her head.  _I'll figure it out eventually_ , she thought.  _I guess Officer Vakarian's right about that. If Shepard brought a cop on board..._

She looked at Aiden before turning to look at the doors to the engine room. "You think Tali's done with Shepard in there?" she asked quietly.

Aiden remained silent for a brief period of time, which Jodie assumed was Aiden going off to check on Tali for Jodie. She waited for some time, before she heard Aiden faintly whoosh in what sounded like the affirmative. And sure enough, Jodie looked at the doors to the engine room right when Shepard walked out of there.

Jodie cracked a smile, and then nodded. "Well, I better go see how she's acclimating to this environment," she said. "Let's do this."

* * *

As soon as Jodie stepped into the engine room, she found more things to be amazed by.

As she entered, she found that there was some kind of metallic wall in front of her that was adorned with many varieties of light. The wall seemed to focus on a central point from which blue light seemed to emanate out. It was not quite like an entrance to the Infraworld, but Jodie found herself mesmerized by the sight regardless. She walked closer to it, her mouth hanging open for what felt like the eighth time that day as she got closer. She noticed that there was a row of computers right in front of a guard-rail that separated the engineers from the wall by what she surmised was at least three or four yards. She then came to this guard-rail, looking at the light of the drive core.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Jodie jumped slightly, and then looked behind her to see Tali walk up to her.

Jodie sighed, her shoulders relaxing as Tali took a place next to her against the rail. "I... I guess so," said Jodie. "I'm sorry, I've never seen an engine quite like this."

"Neither have I," Tali said, her eyes lighting up as she excitedly began to bounce up and down. "This is light years ahead of anything I've ever seen on the Fleet, and..." She paused, looking at the control panel. "And I've been given permission to poke around in it."

Jodie's eyebrow rose, her posture shifting as she turned to Tali. "Really?" she asked, her tone indicating some surprise. "Wouldn't the chief engineer disapprove of that?"

"Nah, it's fine." Jodie let out an audible gasp of shock as she turned towards the sound of the voice in question. When she did, she saw a middle-aged man manning one of the terminals. "I guess we'll see what happens, but if what I've seen her say is any indication, she'll fit right in." The man shook his head. "Sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet." He turned to Jodie, walking towards her and extending his hand at the same time. "I am Chief Engineer Adams."

"Jodie Holmes," Jodie replied as she tentatively grasped Adams' hand and shook it. "Sorry, I'm just, well," she paused, a nervous chuckle escaping her throat "I haven't gotten used to this yet." She gestured around her. "I mean... well, everything."

"Well, I get the feeling you'll fit pretty well, then," Adams replied. "I haven't seen the rest of the ground team yet, but from what little I've heard it seems like a wild group."

"It certainly seems that way," said Jodie. She then turned her attention back to Tali. "But you got to look around in the ship's engine?"

"Yes," said Tali. "I'm amazed at everything there. I... I think I could learn so much from this ship." Jodie noticed that Tali's voice seemed a little higher pitched and a little faster than normal. "I mean, with the various drive core subroutines and the fueling equations and regulating the heat so it doesn't overheat and... And that heat signature shielding." She looked at the engine, her eyes wide. "That especially seems interesting. I still don't fully understand how it works, but what I do understand is... well." She paused, looking at Jodie. "It's amazing, Jodie."

Jodie smiled, even if her brows had shifted in her confusion. "Well... I don't really know how any of that works, but... I'm glad you feel happy here," she said. "Must be great to be into something like that."

Tali looked at Jodie, and then she immediately bowed her head. "Oh, Keelah," Tali said, her voice sounding a little exasperated. "I-I'm so sorry. I didn't realize you... I'm sorry. I'm just so excited right now, and I could talk about engineering subroutines for days and talk about how much eezo it could take to power this thing, but Keelah, I didn't-!"

Jodie chuckled at Tali's flusteredness. "No no, it's fine," Jodie replied. "It's good to have something to be passionate about."

"You really think so?" asked Tali.

"Yeah," said Jodie as she sighed, leaning against the rail. "I wish I had something like that when I was growing up." She took a moment to gaze up at the engine, a regretful expression on her face. "I didn't get so lucky. I had..." She looked up, remembering her early years, and everything from her adopted father through her attempts to fit in with others to eventually getting recruited to the CIA. "I had a tough time. Couldn't really devote any time to anything, you know?"

"I... I guess so," said Tali. She nodded. "I'm sorry if I-"

"No no, it's all right," Jodie said, giving Tali a sad but reassuring smile. "It's all in the past now, and I've more or less come to terms with it." Jodie shrugged. "It's all we can ever do, no?"

"I guess so," said Tali. She looked at Jodie. "So you really didn't mind my rambling?"

"Not at all," said Jodie. "In fact, I'd be interested to hear a little more about that at some point."

"Oh?" said Tali.

"Yeah," said Jodie. "Knowing how you were just now, I'll bet it'll be a fun conversation." She crossed her arms.

Tali looked at Jodie as she crossed her arms. "You know, that sounds quite a bit of what Shepard said to me when we first met," she said.

"Really?" Jodie asked. She then froze for a split second, her question coming back to her. "Oh, and that reminds me, too! I wanted to ask about-"

And it was at this precise moment that Jodie's stomach growled quite loudly. Jodie's eyes widened in surprise as she heard this, and she looked down at herself for a few seconds before covering her stomach with her hands and giving her an embarrassed smile. Upon seeing that Tali's expression hadn't changed at all, though, Jodie found some of her embarrassment wear off, but it was still rather present.

"Sorry," she said. "I guess I haven't had anything to eat in a while."

Tali nodded. "Hm. Now that you mention it, I haven't either," she said. She shrugged. "Want to go to the mess hall?"

"Sure," said Jodie immediately. "I could use something to eat."

"Come on, then," said Tali. "I can answer the question I think you wanted to ask there."

Tali nodded to Engineer Adams really quickly before she and Jodie walked towards the door on the other side of the room. Jodie found herself looking over to Aiden, hearing him click a little bit in wonder. Jodie shook her head, cracking a smile and simply following Tali out the door as they both rounded off to where the elevator stood.

* * *

It was about five minutes later when Jodie and Tali had just sat down at the table that the intercom came to life.

" _This is Commander Shepard speaking._ " Jodie looked up at where the voice was coming from, taking a breath as she placed her cheeseburger down on the plate. " _We have our orders: find Saren before he finds the Conduit._ "

Shepard paused, giving Jodie enough time to look to Tali. The quarian had leaned over the table so her head was propped up on her left arm. Jodie could not quite read her expression, but judging from the way Tali's right hand moved she imagined she was looking up in admiration. Faintly, Jodie thought she could hear a sigh, but it was too soft for her to catch adequately.

Before she could ponder on this, the Commander continued. " _I won't lie to you, crew,_ " he continued. " _This mission isn't going to be easy. For too long, humanity has stood apart from the others. Now it's time for humanity to step up and do our part for the rest of the galaxy! Time to show them what humans are made_   _of!_

" _Our enemy knows we're coming,_ " Shepard continued. " _When we go into the Traverse, Saren's followers will be waiting for us. But we'll be ready for them, too._ " He then paused, and Jodie noticed when he next began to speak that his voice sounded ever so slightly further from whatever he was speaking into. " _Humanity needs to do this. Not just for its own sake, but for the sake of every other species out there. Saren must be stopped, and I promise you..._ " Here, Shepard paused ever so briefly, though Jodie sensed this was for dramatic effect. " _We will stop him!_ "

The intercom then cut out, leaving Jodie to stand there looking at the intercom. She found herself distracted by what she had heard, but not because of anything she violently disagreed with.

On the contrary, the speech left Jodie with a small sense of awe at how Shepard carried himself when making a speech. She found herself rather invigorated by the authoritative tone Shepard used in his speech, and for the first time since she had boarded, she felt truly confident that Shepard did perhaps trust that she did have something to add to the crew. And that feeling gave her a sense of purpose.

Of course, she would reserve her judgment until she saw him in a field of battle. But until then, Jodie had the sense of a strong leader, and already her expectations were-

"You seem lost in thought there."

Jodie jumped slightly, knocked violently out of her reverie by Tali. Tali looked at Jodie with a tilted head, and even as Jodie chuckled rather nervously the tilt remained.

"S-Sorry," Jodie said, he cheeks flushing slightly in embarrassment. "I just got carried away, is all." She then glanced at the intercom. "Shepard." She paused uncertainly, rubbing her fingers in a circle on the table. "I don't know, something about him just..."

"That's true," said Tali as she laid one of her hands on the table. "Shepard has always been rather great. He can handle himself very well on the battlefield, as well." She turned to Jodie. "At least, that is what I've heard." She shakes her head. "But that doesn't matter."

"Yeah, I guess not," said Jodie. "Anyway, to get back on topic..." She shifted in her seat, leaning close to Tali. "When you ran into Shepard at the C-SEC office, you talked as if you'd known him."

"I did," Tali said, and Jodie could tell immediately from the way her voice lilted that she was quite happy to talk about it. "It is... a slightly long story." She chuckled. "It's almost funny now, considering what has happened recently."

"Why?" Jodie asked.

"Well, Shepard grew up on a colony," she replied. "Mindoir, it's called."

"Mindoir?" Jodie leaned forward, the name sounding somewhat familiar to her. "You don't mean that one colony that was attached by batarians before the... the Blitz, do you?"

"I do..." She trailed off, but then turned to Jodie. "But that was after I met him."

"Still, though," Jodie said, looking down at the ground with a saddened expression. "Was he all right after that?"

"The experience was...  _hard_ on him," Tali conceded. "But by then I knew him rather well, so I was able to check on him, see how he was doing." She nodded. "That was hard, but he managed. And I think he is fine now."

"I hope so," Jodie trailed off. She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I know that's off-topic, and it's his thing to tell. I shouldn't have gotten into that." She shifted her posture slightly. "How did you get to meet him?"

Tali nodded, seemingly appreciating that Jodie wanted to change the subject. "The ship I was on at the time suffered a minor systems failure that forced us to land," Tali replied.

Jodie tilted her head to the side. "Wait, really?" she asked. "Don't those ships normally stay pretty close together?"

"We do," said Tali. "Only problem was, someone made a very small mathematical error on this particular relay jump, and it caused us to be separated from the Fleet. Mindoir happened to be close by." She paused, looking up. "We only stayed about two days, but those two days were when I met him..." She sighed. "He was a very nice guy, actually, and very helpful in making sure we were welcomed. He and I talked a little bit, and before long..." She looked at her wrist, Jodie getting the sense from where it was on her hand that she was thinking of her omni-tool. "Well, I had never had a non-quarian friend before, so..."

"So you got curious," said Jodie. "And I guess you and he talked after that?"

"Yes," Tali said. "And we have been friends ever since."

Jodie nodded. "Well, it seems you'll get to see him in person more often now," she said.

"Seems like it," said Tali. Jodie noticed that Tali's eyes seemed to shine brighter than they ever have. "It's been years since I last saw him in person, but now that he's here..." She looked up. "It will make my Pilgrimage much more interesting."

"Well, I guess we'll see," said Jodie with a smile. "Any specific stories from that?"

"Oh!" Tali said. She shrugged. "Well, there was something that happened on the second day that I remember really well. It all started with me practicing how to write a hacking subroutine..."

* * *

Jodie and Tali had talked a little bit about Shepard, but for them their meal had finished rather quickly for both of their tastes. Unfortunately, that meant Tali had to go back to engineering which then left Jodie to her own devices as to what to do. She decided to take that time to write up a quick message to Kalo. It was nothing too fancy, but it did the job it needed to.

After sending the message, she sighed and leaned against the wall where she sat. She was by the sleeper pods, and her guitar case leaned securely against the wall between two of the sleeper pods. She yawned, brushing some of her long brown hair out of her face as she thought on the day's events. It had been a very hard day, and its effects were beginning to make itself apparent in the way her muscles ached and her head started to sag slightly on her neck. Come to think of it, the Eden Prime news had come pretty late in her day for her too, and since then she had not a moment to sit down and think about it.

The pod door opened, and then she found that it was a rather small space. Jodie crawled in, thankful that the door was see-through and that she did not have to shimmy up to a lock in this case to see what was happening. And when she did climb in, she also found that it was somehow not very constricting. She laid back in it, allowing the glass to close over her as she crossed her arms over her chest.

As she heard a faint hiss from close by, Jodie heard several clicks. She then watched as a certain part of the glass fogged from within, and then she saw a series of lines get quickly scrawled on the fogged up glass.

Jodie squinted, and then sighed as Aiden finished writing "TELL ABOUT ME?" on the glass.

"Aiden, we're on a  _warship_ ," she said, bringing her fist up to the glass to wipe the message away. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to be used by any governmental body again. If there's any chance that they're listening in on us, I don't want to take the chance."

Aiden clicked again at this, and Jodie found herself leaning back in the pod as he continued on.

"Yes, I know they'll find out eventually," Jodie replied as she pulled her hand away from the glass. "And I want to tell them individually. But I don't trust the fact that this is a military setting, and I certainly don't want whoever Shepard's superior is to find out." She sighed. "Look, we're only staying here until Saren is killed. After that, we can play it from there, but I'm not planning on bringing the Alliance as a whole into my life, especially if they're anything like the CIA." She shook her head. "You  _know_ what they did with us, Aiden. You know what happened there, and we didn't have a choice in the matter."

She shook her head. "This time, we do have a choice," she finished. "And I'm not letting myself get used for something like that ever again." She shook her head. "Look, you can go and make sure there is a place where I can talk to people without being overheard by anyone if you want. But I'm not talking until I know for sure that I'm not being spied on."

And with this, Jodie tried to turn to her side for effect. However, the area around her was not quite large enough to allow for that, and so she found herself frustrated.

However, Aiden remained silent for some time, and Jodie noticed that he was not making an other attempts to talk to her. She assumed this meant that Aiden decided to drop the subject, and for that Jodie was grateful.

And so, she closed her eyes, allowing herself to relax with deep breaths. Soon enough, she fell asleep, her thoughts melting away as she fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 5

Jodie woke up the next day feeling refreshed, if also having a few sore muscles. The sleeper pod had ensured she would have a good rest, and this was the most rested she had felt in years. Her mood at the time was quite good. She did not even care that she had lightly bumped her head against the glass out of force of habit: she was feeling pretty good about it, and felt like she could go out and start the day.

She looked at her omni-tool arm, slowly raising it and opening the holographic interface. She looked at it, and then at the panel that she used to enter the pod. Before she could click anything, though, she saw the panel light up quickly. Immediately after this, the pod opened with a loud hiss, Jodie blinking in surprise as the glass rose above her.

Jodie sighed, even as the ends of her lips twitched upwards. "Thanks, Aiden," she said quietly. "Just... let me do that in the future, okay?"

Aiden gurgled a little bit in defeat, and Jodie nodded. She then walked straight for the mess hall to find that there was an older woman sitting at the table with a meal laid out in front of her. Jodie guessed from her simple grey uniform and the orange patch with SR-1 printed on it that she was not on the ground team. She surmised that she probably had a support position on the ship, though.

Right as Jodie walked into the mess hall, the older woman caught sight of Jodie, and as Jodie went over to get food, she chuckled. "Well, I guess I've finally met all the people Shepard brought on, then."

Jodie chuckled good-naturedly as she grabbed a couple of energy bars and some water. "Well, I haven't given you my name," Jodie replied. She walked over to the table, setting the energy bars across from the older woman. "Jodie Holmes. And you are?"

"Dr. Chakwas," she replied, standing up and offering her hand. "I'm the chief medical officer aboard the  _Normandy_."

Jodie took Dr. Chakwas' hand and shook it. "Good to meet you, I guess," said Jodie. "So you take care of the injuries on board."

"Among other things," the doctor replied as Jodie sat down. "If you get injured on the battlefield, I'm the one who gets to fix you all up." She looked over at Jodie intently. "I guess Shepard neglected to tell you that you were due for a physical there as well."

Jodie jolted slightly. "Wait..." She leaned forward. "So I was supposed to see you yesterday, and nobody mentioned it to me?"

"I suppose not," said Dr. Chakwas.

Jodie sighed, shaking her head. "Sorry," she replied. "I probably also should've remembered that every military in the galaxy would check that. Shit..."

"It is all right," said Dr. Chakwas. "Though I would worry much more if Shepard wanted to take you on the ground team in the very immediate future."

"Yeah, I guess so," Jodie said, nervously drumming her fingers on the table. "Well... I don't really have much else to do, so we could probably get it done after breakfast."

Dr. Chakwas nodded. "That would be optimal," said Dr. Chakwas. "And then I can get that information to Shepard. Besides..." Dr. Chakwas gave Jodie a glance, before indicating her stature. "I have a feeling this may be a short visit."

"Yeah." Jodie nodded matter-of-factly. "Yeah, I had a feeling you might say that." She shook her head, though her still up-turned lips keyed Dr. Chakwas in to her real feelings on the subject. "But no, I'm sure it's for everyone's benefit." She grabbed one of the energy bars and unwrapped it. "It's not invasive or anything, is it?"

"Oh, no," Dr. Chakwas replied. "No, there is nothing like that."

Jodie sighed. "Good," she said. She bit down on one of the energy bars, and then nodded at the doctor as she chewed and swallowed. "Good."

The doctor didn't say anything more as Jodie ate her breakfast.

* * *

"Huh, that actually was pretty quick."

Jodie rubbed her head as she stepped out of the scanning device. Dr. Chakwas was already waiting with a datapad, looking over the results. Jodie shifted, glancing at the machine that had just scanned her body before turning her attention back to Dr. Chakwas. The doctor chuckled, setting the data pad aside and looking at Jodie.

"Well, what else do you expect?" the doctor asked. "We have state-of-the-art medical technology at our fingers here on the ship."

"I'll say," Jodie said, chuckling. She then turned her attention to Dr. Chakwas. "So how does it look?"

"It seems to check out rather fine," she said. "You're in good physical health, you are certainly keeping rather fit..." She gestured at Jodie. "The only thing I'm concerned about is if the Commander can find any armor in your size."

"I'm sure that won't be a problem," Jodie replied. "I mean, I can't be the only one that's this short in this galaxy, right?"

Dr. Chakwas. "You do bring up a compelling point," she replied. "I think we'll find something. Until then, though, I'm sure Shepard will keep you on the Normandy."

Jodie nodded. "I can understand why," she said. "Even if I'm not exactly on the front lines, I still need protection." She sighed, stepping off of the device. "In the meantime, though, I guess I just wait a little and try to pass the time?"

"Something like that," said Dr. Chakwas. "There isn't much to do, but I think that Chief Williams could help you get acclimated to mass accelerator rounds. From what she's told me, you only fired your first mass accelerator gun at that C-SEC office."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Jodie admitted, rubbing the back of her neck. "I think I'll go ahead and see her about that."

"Very well, then," said Dr. Chakwas. "I'll update Shepard about your medical status as soon as possible."

"Great," said Jodie. "I guess I'll see you around, then."

"I guess we shall," said Dr. Chakwas as Jodie walked towards the door.

* * *

Jodie knew she should probably go over to Ashley first, but something left her wanting to look outside at the stars for a bit. She had never seen any starscape away from Earth before, and she figured she was in the middle of the best time possible to do that. Curiosity did get the better of her in situations like this, and she figured that Aiden had probably hogged the view to himself for long enough.

Of course, the hunt for a window lasted longer than she would have liked. She knew there were no windows in the hangar bay, and there seemed to be no windows in the crew deck either. She thus milled about for a little bit, before finally deciding to head on over to the cockpit to see if there was a window to be seen.

And indeed, the only window on the whole ship was in the cockpit. Jodie wondered why that was, but she was not about to question it seeing as how she knew so little. Nevertheless, she approached slowly, glancing at the chair with some amount of nervousness.

But even that washed quickly away as Jodie saw what was in front of her. Just about everywhere she could look, there were a lot of twinkling stars everywhere across the vast inky blackness of space. Somehow, out here in the middle of the cosmos, the twinkling was amplified, and it was quite the sight to behold. Jodie could not remember the last time she had ever seen a starry sky that beautiful. Maybe when she had been on the run she might've seen a sky like that, but other than there, she could not think of any place in her immediate memory.

She briefly wondered if Aiden had already seen this while Jodie was asleep. Her guess was that he had. After all, she hadn't heard any whisperings about strange goings-on around her yet, so she took this as a sign that Aiden had finally found other things with which to occupy his attention whenever he was bored. She hoped that was the case, otherwise-

"Enjoying the view?"

Jodie yelped in surprise, turning around to find that she had advanced into the pilot's line of sight. She looked over to see a scrawny-looking man with a cap and the most well-trimmed brown beard Jodie had ever seen in her life.

"Oh my God..." Jodie said. She took a few deep breaths to calm her heart, and she topped that off with a sigh of relief. "Oh my God..."

"Now now, don't get a heart attack on me," the pilot replied. "I don't think anybody's medication here treats that."

Despite the sudden rush of fear, Jodie found herself chuckling in amusement. "Sorry, I must've stepped forward further than I thought I did," she said.

"No no, it's fine," the pilot reassured with a dismissive wave of his hand. "You're not the only one to pop into the cockpit."

Jodie let out a sigh of relief. "Sorry, I don't think we've met," said Jodie. "I'm Jodie Holmes. And you are...?"

"Well, I'm Jeff, but everyone here calls me Joker," the pilot replied, leaning back in his seat and looking right at Jodie. He then flashed a playful smile at Jodie. "And right now, I still don't think I've figured out why. I think it's probably the chair."

Jodie did not find that particular joke to be terribly funny, but nevertheless she snorted in amusement. "Ah, so we've got the wisecracking pilot, hm?" she asked.

"Maybe," said Joker as he leaned back. He then looked to Jodie. "You must be one of the newbies that came in yesterday. Sorry I couldn't give you a proper welcome on my baby."

Jodie shrugged. "I was... distracted," she replied. "Even if you had, I'm not sure I would've noticed."

"Maybe," said Joker. She then gave Jodie an intent look. "I don't know, it's a pretty odd group."

"What makes you say that?" Jodie asked. "I mean... it's not because most of us are aliens, is it?"

"No, actually," said Joker as he looked ahead. "I was thinking more because of what I've noticed with just what I've seen. We've got an angry krogan, we've got a turian cop with a stick up his ass, we've got some childhood quarian friend, and then we have the mysterious Good Samaritan." With this last item, he gestured at Jodie. "Couple that with the people already on board and... well, the only way you could get any weirder is if Shepard decided to recruit a drell assassin or something along those lines."

"Ah." Jodie turned to the stars, before leaning back against the bulkhead. "And then there's the fact that we're fighting a turian Spectre, right?"

"Well, that part isn't that strange," Joker replied. "But I guess it could be less... hm..." He paused, scratching at his beard in thought.

"Surreal?" Jodie supplied.

Joker nodded. "Yeah, that's probably it," he said. "I don't see things getting any more strange with what we've got."

Jodie had to suppress a snort of laughter, though Aiden was trilling in merriment off to the side. "Don't say that  _just_ yet," Jodie said. "You can never tell with some people."

"Maybe not, but I'm sure it won't get too crazy," said Joker. He then looked forward. "Well, if you wanted to see the stars, there was your chance. We'll be jumping into regular old FTL travel in a bit, and seeing blue all the time does nothing for that."

Jodie sighed sadly, but she tilted her head forward nevertheless. "Of course," she said. "Sorry, I should probably get back down or something."

"Well, I don't mind the company that much," said Joker. "But, since you're new here, you've probably got a few important things to talk about with other people around here."

"Yeah," said Jodie. "That sounds about right. Mostly, I need to talk to Ashley."

"Ah, her," said Joker. "Have fun with that. I hear she can be a bit of a hardass."

"I've heard that's how most military types are," Jodie replied. She nodded, and then looked at Joker. "It was nice to meet you, though."

"Yeah, same here," said Joker. "Hopefully I'll be seeing you around."

Jodie offered Joker a smile. "Maybe," she said. "I guess I'll see you later."

"Seeya," Joker replied with a small wave of his hand.

With this, Jodie walked away from the cockpit, feeling rather good at having met someone else aboard the ship. As she walked, though, she heard Aiden chirp above her. This chirp was rather amused, and it was followed by a long raspberry sound.

Jodie nodded.  _Well, Aiden, you can't say he's wrong,_ she thought.  _He did say it was an odd group, after all._ _  
_

Aiden simply chirped in reply, then trilled a little bit as Jodie walked to the doorway to the crew deck.

 _Yeah,_  Jodie thought.  _I guess we'll see._

Aiden said nothing further as she passed through the door. Jodie nodded, and then made her way to the hangar bay.

* * *

Jodie looked at the assault rifle with some amount of uncertainty. She then glanced up at Ashley on the table next to her, before looking back at the weapon in her hands.

"So this is what I'm shooting?" she asked.

"Yes," said Ashley as she nodded at Jodie. "For all intents and purposes, that's probably the most versatile weapon you'll have. It's not too heavy, it offers some protection at all ranges, its' got rapid fire... Really, I'm not sure what's to fear about it."

"I guess," Jodie replied hesitantly. She eyed the weapon. "I still don't think I'll ever get used to fighting out in the open like that."

"You'll get used to it," said Ash. "And hey, look at it this way: you're not going through the N7 training program."

Jodie nodded, having read up on the N7 program before. "I've heard...  _extreme_ things," she said. She paused for a second, looking at Ashley as she conemplated this. "I guess that's true."

"Yeah," said Ashley. "Now, I'm sure you know the basics of firing a gun, right?"

"Account for recoil, always check the weapon, constantly maintain it..." Jodie looked at the weapon. "And keep track of your ammo?"

"Well, keep track of how hot your weapon is," Ashley corrected. She gave Jodie a pointed look. "I haven't heard of very many places on Earth that have used live ammo ever since we've gone to the stars."

Jodie sighed. "It's a very long story," she replied. "I guess the people I worked with just liked antiquated firearms."

Ashley glanced at Jodie, before shaking her head. "Fair enough," Ashley replied, though her expression remained somewhat skeptical. She then looked at the weapon. "I guess you still need a primer on how to check heat?"

Jodie nodded. "That would be great, yeah," she said. "I don't think it would be a good battle strategy to just fire away until it overheats..."

"It would not," said Ashley, before she then unfolded the assault rifle.

As it unfolded, Jodie noticed that a holographic interface about the size of her index finger was displayed just above the scope. It looked like some kind of empty bar waiting to be filled, and it vaguely reminded her of a health bar she would have seen in one of the video games that she used to play before she went on the run.

"Oh," said Jodie, mentally smacking herself in the head. "How did I not notice that before?"

"It's easy to lose track of something like this in the heat of battle," Ashley replied. "I guess you already know what that does?"

"I have an  _idea_ , at the very least," Jodie said, looking at the interface. "It also beeps when overheated, so I'll assume that this bar will be full when that happens."

"That just about says it all," said Ashley. She then paused, touching a certain part of the weapon. "Though, if that's busted, you can always try to feel this part of the weapon. If you can feel a small amount of heat there after leaving your hand there for a few seconds, it needs to cool down."

"Some heat?" Jodie asked. "Wouldn't it be hotter than that if it were overheated?"

"Well, yes, assuming you're touching this thing without wearing the gauntlets that standard-issue Alliance armor comes with," Ashley said.

Jodie blinked, and then nodded as the realization hit her. "Ah, right," she said. "Sorry, I forgot that there's body armor too." She shook her head. "But no, I think I get it." She looked at the rifle, before putting it down on the table. "And of course there's the maintenance part."

"Yes there is," Ashley said in agreement, laying her own rifle down. "Now, on the Normandy, you won't have to worry too much about that since I'll go ahead and maintain most of the arms, but it's a good idea to know how to do it anyway."

"You never know when it'll come in handy," Jodie agreed as she laid the rifle down. "It seems a little more complicated since the weapon folds open when you want to use it."

"Well, there is that, but that's not the hard part," Ashley replied. "No, the hard part is getting around the mass accelerator itself. Make the slightest error cleaning that, and you can risk the firearm blowing up in your face. I remember that we spent nearly two months on nothing  _but_  weapons maintenance in boot camp before we were allowed to fire one on the field."

"Well, if they're doing that, it's for a good reason," Jodie commented. "Can it still blow up?"

"It can," Ashley replied. "But if you know what you're doing, that'll only happen if your enemy has an omni-tool that's equipped with the right load-out." She paused. "We'll be facing a lot of geth out there, so they'll probably have it. That said, it shouldn't be  _too_ catastrophic."

"All right," said Jodie, looking at the rifle. She then looked at Ashley. "So where do we start?"

"Well, we start with expanding the rifle," said Ashley. "And the first thing to do there is to make sure that the rifle doesn't discharge while it's being cleaned and maintained..."

* * *

Jodie found herself idly sitting off to the side of the mess hall. She was fiddling around with her omni-tool, looking up every so often as some of the crew members passed her by. Aiden was quiet as usual, and Jodie was allowed a moment of peace to process the whole situation. The fact that she was on a military ship, the fact that she was even in the future in the first place, the fact that she had likely found a group of people that made her homeless friends seem normal in comparison...

Her homeless friends...

A wave of curiosity suddenly overcame Jodie. Her fingers turned to the extranet search engine, and she immediately looked at it, hesitating slightly while looking at the search bar. She brought her fingers up to the holographic keyboard after a bit.

 _Why haven't I done this before?_  Jodie thought to herself.

She shook her head, sighing nervously.  _Well, here goes nothing_...

She then typed "Ryan Clayton" into the search bar, and hit the enter key before she could have a chance to doubt herself.

The search results came up as soon as she hit the enter key. She frowned immediately, seeing a search result come up rather quickly, and briefly she felt a strange surge of mixed emotion as she saw his face appear on the right side of the holographic interface. However, she sighed in relief when this Ryan Clayton turned out to be an actor rather than a CIA agent. He still looked quite the same as he remembered, but he was somehow...  _happier_ , it seemed. Jodie was glad for this, at least, though she knew that he would never see him because of his deceased status. She pondered if she should visit his grave in the first place: after all, not all of Jodie's history with Ryan had been pleasant.

But she decided to think about it later, for there were other people she needed to think about at that time. As such, she touched the search bar and quickly entered "Cole Freeman". She blinked upon seeing that there were very few search results, and that what search results were there were very sparse. It looked like there was no results for him. Jodie was rather crestfallen at this; she had hoped that Cole would have something left in this universe. Jodie sighed, wondering if he had lived an unassuming life or if he had even existed. Jodie hoped it was a case of the latter: Jodie could scarcely imagine a world where Cole was not brightening the day of anyone he worked with. She had come to him a freak, and all he ever called her was the "little princess".

Jodie sighed, bowing her head in respect before touching the search bar again. When she did, she paused, wondering if she really wanted to know what had become of Nathan. This one in particular was hard to think of: Nathan was a very nice man, but she wondered if he had gone mad the way he had while Jodie was around. She closed her eyes for a second, and then opened them while looking at the open search bar.

She sighed.  _Well, I guess it's inevitable_ , she thought.  _I hope he didn't go mad..._

With this, Jodie typed "Nathan Dawkins" into the search engine, and this time she did hesitate for a second before hitting enter.

She was immediately surprised by Nathan's picture on the search engine. This was exactly like the Nathan that Jodie knew, except that his wrinkles seemed much less prominent in some of the older pictures. Jodie breathed in, smiling softly as she read on. Apparently, Nathan was still a scientist in this universe, but he had been moved quite a bit forward in the timeline. As she read on, she was surprised to read that his specialty had apparently been space travel: he was one of the lead scientists that started applying the theory behind mass effect travel within Alliance ships. She also noted that he had only died rather recently, this time of old age than anything having to do with a gun. She found herself smiling upon reading up on him, and also wondering why she had never come across his name until then in all her searches related to mass effect travel.

 _He managed to be happy..._  Jodie's smile fell as soon as she thought of this, thinking back to Nathan's eventual descent into madness.  _He managed to be happy without me..._

Jodie briefly thought back to the night that the spirits of Nathan's wife and daughter had directed her to Nathan's office. Doubt assailed Jodie immediately as she thought of how differently that night could have gone. In hindsight, she knew that Nathan would have needed the comfort; even in another universe, the image of Nathan's tear-streaked face was something that broke Jodie's heart. At the same time, though, Jodie could never have shaken off the feeling that she had been partly responsible for Nathan's plight when she had allowed Aiden to channel Nathan's wife and daughter through her. She had always wondered what would happen if she had not gone to that office that night. Perhaps then he would not have become so obsessed with getting them back from death.

Jodie closed her eyes, leaning back against the wall as she shook her head.  _Well, I guess that confirms it,_  she thought. She found herself rubbing her head, the depression settling in as she opened her eyes and gave a rather forlorn look at the area around her. Her eyes watered at this though, and she once again thought about how great it would be if she hadn't-

"Hey Jodie."

Jodie looked up to see Kaidan looking directly at her. Jodie blinked, her eyes drying just a little bit as she closed her omni-tool.

"Oh, hi Kaidan," Jodie replied. "I didn't expect to see you here right now..."

But Kaidan took another look at Jodie before he took a seat next to Jodie. "Is everything all right?" he asked. "You just... you don't look too happy there."

Jodie sighed, wiping one of her eyes with her free hand. "I'm... I'm fine," she replied.

"You didn't seem so fine just now," Kaidan said.

Jodie sighed, looking at her omni-tool hand. "It's a long story," said Jodie. "You ever search for your relatives on the internet?"

Kaidan chuckled. "With all due respect, Jodie, why would you look for them?"

Jodie shrugged. "Well, if you haven't seen them for a while, maybe," she said. "I just haven't really seen anyone I can call my family in years."

"Oh." Kaidan paused, looking at Jodie before turning away. "It wasn't great news, I take it?"

"No," Jodie replied. Her shoulders slumped a little bit, but she maintained a neutral expression. "I guess I should've expected something like that. It was..." She glanced to the side, thinking of Nathan. "They were good people, but they were caught in a bad situation. It would take too long to talk about it here, but... let's just say it wasn't a good time for anyone to be around me."

"I see..." Kaidan said. "Sorry to have brought it up."

"No no, don't apologize for that," Jodie replied. "You're not the one who was looking them up on the extranet, after all."

Kaidan nodded, though Jodie noticed that he was suppressing the urge to chuckle. "I suppose that's true," he said. "I guess you want to keep that to yourself?"

"Yeah," said Jodie. "I'd like that."

"Then we'll leave it at that," Kaidan replied. "Hell, I'm pretty sure that almost all of us have got our skeletons in the closet on this ship."

"You really think so?" Jodie asked.

"Yeah," said Kaidan, glancing around the room. He then looked over at Jodie, offering a small smile. "So are you settling in all right?"

"Yeah," said Jodie. "Yeah. Ashley just showed me a way around an assault rifle."

"She did, huh?" Kaidan asked. "I guess you'll learn your way around one of those things soon, no?"

"It seems that way," said Jodie. She pulled her legs in closer. "It actually wasn't as complicated as I thought it would be, I have to say."

"You get used to those kinds of weapons quickly, I find," Kaidan replied. He sighed. "What makes it harder for me are my biotics."

Jodie turned to Kaidan, her eyebrow raised. "You're a biotic?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Kaidan. "I was one of those people outfited with the L2 implants."

Aiden let out a confused click, a sentiment which was mirrored by Jodie's facial expression a second later. "Implants?" she asked.

Kaidan turned to Jodie. "For my biotics," he said.

"Oh." Jodie nodded, giving an awkward chuckle as she shifted her posture. "Oh. Okay. Sorry, for a second there..."

"You didn't know biotics needed those, did you?" Kaidan asked.

"Um..." Jodie sighed in defeat. "I didn't."

"Well, now you know," Kaidan offered. "Human implants have been getting perfected over the past few years. I was unlucky to get the L2 implant." He tapped his temple. "It's powerful, but I get some nasty migraines from it."

Jodie nodded, even as she heard Aiden give a few nervous clicks. "I see..." she said. "I hope they don't flare up in battle."

"I've had it happen in a few situations," he replied. "But head-on battle rarely allows you to sit back and relax, you know?"

"Yeah, that's true," Jodie commented, thinking back to the few direct combat situations she had ever been in. "Well, I guess you can always hope it doesn't flare up?"

"That's all I can do," said Kaidan. He then nodded. "Well, apart from trusting that my friends have my back."

Jodie chuckled at this. "I guess that's also true," she said. "You've got a good point there." She paused, before turning to face Kaidan. "I don't think you've got much to worry about there, though. This seems like a good group we've got."

"I don't doubt it," said Kaidan nervously. He then shrugged, and looked right at Jodie. "But that's enough about me." He then crossed his arms in front of him. "You said you were good at sneaking around. I guess that means you used to do recon for whoever it was you worked for."

"Oh. Oh yeah," said Jodie. She smiled a little as she looked at Kaidan. "It's tense, you know, trying to sneak around without getting caught. It's one of those things you get used to, though." Jodie sighed, looking down. "I don't really get any thrill from it, though. Knowing what the enemy can do to you if you get caught..." She shivered. "It tends to put a damper on that."

"I'll say," said Kaidan. "I can't imagine what would happen to you if you were caught sneaking around a batarian slave compound. I hear those places are hell to be in."

"So have I," Jodie said. "I don't intend on ever getting in there. The implants they give you just sound terrifying to me. I can't imagine what it would be like to be fitted with something that could shock you on a whim."

"I'll bet," he said. "But, I suppose there are worse things than being held as a slave."

Jodie shrugged. "I guess there are," she said, as Aiden gave a brief click of agreement. "Hm... You hungry?"

Kaidan chuckled, a smile coming to his face upon hearing that. "Yeah," he said. "Biotics usually are."

"Bottomless stomach, huh?" Jodie asked as she stood up.

"Well, we need the extra energy," Kaidan replied as he held his hand out. Jodie took the hand and helped Kaidan to his feet. "Biotics can't eat it all quickly enough."

"Oh." Jodie said. "Well, I'm feeling the need to eat something as well, so..."

"All right," said Kaidan as he gestured to the tables. "Let's do it, then."

"Uh... sure." Jodie offered a shrug.

The two of them then went over to the food dispensaries to get something to eat. As Jodie picked up some utensils, she heard Aiden whoosh in an unamused manner. Jodie paused, looking at where she assumed Aiden was as he let off a series of rather pointed clicks.

She let out a sigh, glaring up at Aiden.  _Relax, Aiden_ , she thought.  _You can't just freak out because I'm having a friendly conversation._ _He's just a friend, and I don't see it getting to_ that  _level at any point._

She shook her head, and then turned to grab a granola bar from the dispensary.

* * *

A few hours later, Jodie found herself looking at the Mako from the elevator. She watched as Ashley and Tali gave each other a glance, Ashley fixing her helmet on her head while in a conversation with Tali. Garrus stood to the side, giving the Mako one last inspection with his omni-tool. Jodie looked at it, a little nervous to see what a descending Mako would look like.

She heard the elevator open behind her, and when she did, she saw Shepard walk over. As he passed Jodie, he gave her a nod, and then paused before turning to her.

"Ah, Jodie," said Shepard. "I've been looking for you. I need to bring you up to speed on the squad."

Jodie nodded, looking at the Commander. "Okay," she said. "What is it?"

"Come on, walk with me," Shepard said.

Jodie then began walking over with Shepard, crossing the short distance to the Mako. "So, Shepard..." said Jodie. "What do you need?"

"I talked to Dr. Chakwas," Shepard replied. "In terms of armor, we may have something that can possibly fit your...  _dimensions_."

Jodie frowned a little at the wording before she shook her head. "That's fine," she said. "So how do we get that together?"

Shepard then pointed to a man who was standing rather close to where the Mako was. He was standing by some crates, tending to some equipment. "That's the guy you want to talk to," Shepard said. "He's the Normandy's requisitions officer. He'll probably have something in stock for you." He glanced down, before nodding at Jodie. "Unfortunately, he does ask for money on that."

Jodie frowned, looking at the requisitions officer. "You have to pay for the armor here?" she asked.

"Well, unfortunately, that's how he runs," said Shepard. Jodie thought she saw the faintest hint of a leer from Shepard, but it quickly vanished. "I can cover most of the costs, though, so just tell him that I'll be paying for your armor." He glanced at Ashley. "Has she briefed you about assault rifle use?"

Jodie nodded. "She even walked me through cleaning it," she replied. She then paused, looking at the ground before clearing her throat. "Um... sir."

Shepard shook his head. "Please, don't bother with that," he said. "It makes me feel old and stiff whenever I hear people say 'sir'."

Jodie frowned, but shook her head. "Yeah, okay," she said. "I just thought that I would do that... You know, this being a military ship and all, I thought I should respect that."

"Well, you're not technically Alliance, so you can be forgiven for that," he replied. "Personally, I'm not sure what some regs are about, but I guess I'll have to deal with that." Shepard then walked over to Ashley and Tali, Jodie following as Ashley opened the door to the Mako. "I'll be down on the ground with these two. I would use that time to sort out your armor situation."

Jodie nodded. "I'll do that, si- Shepard." Jodie nodded. "Good luck."

Shepard said nothing as he entered the Mako quickly. Jodie cast a quick glance at Tali, bowing her head as Tali nodded. "You be careful down there," Jodie said to Tali.

"Oh, don't worry about that," said Tali. "I'll be careful."

And with this, Tali boarded the Mako. Ashley followed suit several minutes later, and then Jodie turned to walk to the elevator to make sure she was out of the way when the Mako deployed.

* * *

Jodie yanked on the fabric bodysuit of her new armor, noticing how tight it fit around her. She paused, briefly wondering if Shepard was planning on making Jodie walk around at the bottom of an ocean.

 _It wouldn't be the first time I've done that_ , she thought, a wry smile coming to her face. Her other hand tapped one of the ceramic plates that was over her left thigh as she looked at Aiden.  _Hopefully I won't get chased by an entity, Aiden. Right?_

Aiden only gurgled in reply. Jodie shook her head, looking at herself in the mirror. The armor she eventually picked out was a sleek, black design. Jodie had wanted to go for something with a camo pattern, but she was hard-pressed to find anything of that sort in the Normandy's stockpile. The breast plate felt a little large on her, but other than that the armor fit reasonably well. This surprised Jodie quite a bit: she knew her stature should have posed a problem when getting the armor together, but ultimately it did not.

And for that, Jodie was grateful. She would take any protection she could take.

She looked over at the helmet she was holding in her hands. The requisitions officer had told her that she might need the helmet depending on where she would be deployed. She had known that most planets in the solar system did not support life, but she never imagined that she might actually have to step onto one of those planets.

 _I still can't believe we need to keep this thing on hand,_  Jodie thought. She looked up at Aiden nervously.  _What do you think is going to be there?_

Aiden gave a click that was devoid of all emotion. Jodie sighed, and then looked up at the ceiling.  _I guess that's true,_  she thought.  _If it can't sustain life..._

She paused, weighing the helmet in her hands. She then nodded up at Aiden. "Well, I think we've got what we're looking for," said Jodie. "Let's go change back into our regular clothes, yeah?"

Aiden clicked his agreement. With this, Jodie nodded at the bathroom mirror she had been using to test out her new armor, and then got to work trying to get the armor off.

* * *

As Jodie was closing the locker that now contained her armor as well as her pistol and assault rifle, she heard her omni-tool ping. She looked at the omni-tool in question, noticing that there was an indication for a new message. Frowning, Jodie opened the omni-tool, and immediately blinked upon seeing that the message came from Kalo'Veera.

"Oh... He replied!" she said to herself, opening the message quickly. She smiled upon seeing Kalo's extranet mail address at the message, and so she leaned forward to read Kalo's message.

" _Jodie,_

_It makes me happy to see that you have actually messaged me. If I am being quite honest, I have seen many roommates of mine at this shelter leave without ever actually sending me a message. The fact that you have done this small little thing... You have no idea what it means to me, Jodie. So thank you._

_Things have been rather quiet ever since you left. Nobody has moved into my room since you left, which just amplifies the quiet a little more. Honestly, it is a little unsettling. If a ship was this quiet on the Fleet, it would usually signal that something was wrong. I have to say that, even a year into my already overlong Pilgrimage, I am still a little unsettled by the silence. I can sleep reasonably well now, but sometimes I feel that something bad is going to happen. I do not expect that you would understand, but I thought I might write it down. Knowing you, I have the feeling you would care._

_I am glad to hear that your quarian friend is alive and well. I find it strange that she became so acquainted with a human before her Pilgrimage, but I guess that cannot be helped. Such things are rare within the Fleet, you know, and to be honest this is the first I have heard of a quarian being friends with an alien pre-Pilgrimage. I do hope your Commander will be an asset to her Pilgrimage at some point; he would be a rather terrible friend if he did not, in my estimation._

_I saw the report on the news about the shootout at the C-SEC office. I did not know that you nearly got killed to get that information about Saren to the Council. I hope that your safety is guaranteed now, Jodie. It seems odd to give you safety aboard the ship heading the manhunt for Saren, but I suppose that the logic presented holds quite a lot of truth to it. After all, he would not dare attack the person who is leading the manhunt against him on his own ship, no? Even so, Jodie, I hope you say away from him. I imagine that he would be rather angry that you helped to unravel his plans._

_I do not have much more to say, but I do hope you reply at some point in the future._

_Keelah se'lai,_

_Kalo'Veera_ "

Jodie paused, looking at the message with a small smile on her face. She could hardly believe that it was sitting in her inbox, staring her in the face. She wondered briefly if paper mail was still delivered in this day and age, but settled for reading the message electronically.

 _So_ this  _is what it's like to have a pen pal_ , she thought.  _I guess that..._

Jodie's hand immediately hovered to the reply space, opening a reply box to the message. She found her heart flutter as she thought of this, and she shifted her posture.

And that was when her back rubbed against a few knobs on the surface behind her.

 _Oh my..._  Jodie looked behind her seeing the lockers behind her.  _I should..._ probably  _answer this away from here_. She chuckled nervously, and then began walking away from the lockers. Aiden could only groan in reply to this, Jodie casting him an innocent facial expression as she looked for somewhere quiet, somewhere isolated where she could reply.

 _I think I should probably reply as soon as possible,_  she thought.  _After all, I_ -

And that was when the ship rocked slightly. Jodie was caught off guard by this, slamming her foot against the floor and waving her arms to steady herself. She then felt a force act on her to keep her upright, and immediately she could tell that Aiden was acting to keep her up. She quickly righted herself, though, looking around and breathing in and out uncertainly.

Off to the side, Jodie noticed that Wrex was looking up, seeming rather annoyed. He pushed off the wall, looking above as he crossed his arms.

"What was  _that_ about?" Jodie asked.

"Sounds like trouble, if you ask me," said Wrex.

Jodie shrugged. "Possibly," she said. "You think that was the thrusters?"

"Probably," said Wrex. "Let's hope Shepard didn't get his ass kicked." He then paused. "Or let's. I'm itching for some action right about now."

Jodie cringed. "I'm not sure that's a good thing to-"

And then she was interrupted by the hangar door opening. Jodie was suddenly hit by a wave of heat that almost caused her to sweat immediately. She frowned upon noticing this, and then took a sniff of the air. Her face scrunched up at the acrid smell of the air, and she found herself looking at Wrex. The krogan shrugged, and then Jodie looked back to the ground that she saw beneath them.

And that was when she saw the first of the volcanic plumes rise up. She jumped, seeing the billowing lava appear from a crack some distance away. She looked at the ground further, noticing that the obviously man... well,  _alien_ -made structure seemed to be vibrating a little. She cast a glance at Wrex, and then she heard a far-off explosion occur.

She then looked at the mouth of the alien-made structure as the Normandy got as close to the structure as the ship dared. "Oh dear..." she said. "What did he do?"

That was the moment at which Jodie saw Ashley run out of the maw of the alien-made structure. Jodie rushed forward as the Normandy got as close to the ground as it dared. Jodie slowed down, working her way to the edge of the hangar door. Before Jodie knew what was happening, Ashley had jumped in the air, and Jodie could only lunge forward in time to grab Ashley's hand. Jodie got to her feet slowly, grunting as she pulled Ashley into the ship. In a flash, though, the load lightened, and Ashley was pulled into the ship immediately.

Jodie turned immediately back to the opening, catching sight of Wrex letting go of Ashley before she saw an unknown asari run towards them. Jodie brought her left arm out behind her, taking hold of the asari's left hand with her own and pulling her into the ship. As Jodie helped the asari onto the Normandy, she looked back and saw Shepard run out towards the ship, Tali following quickly. Jodie looked over to them as the structure began to crumble.

That was when Jodie reached out again. She brought it out just in time to grab a hold of Shepard's arm, as he managed to jump onto the hangar door. Tali followed soon after, with Wrex and a newly-recovered Ashley helping the quarian into the ship. Jodie then found Shepard signalling to get back into the hangar proper, an order Jodie was only too happy to follow considering the intense heat.

"Joker, get us out of here,  _now!_ "

And with this, the hangar door closed, the sounds of a loud rumble being cut off as the ship flew away. Jodie blinked in shock, looking to the three ground team members and the asari newcomer as they all took a few seconds to catch their breath. Shepard himself stumbled a few feet into the hangar, steadying himself on his knees. The other ground team members did much the same thing, leaving Jodie and Wrex to stare at the four of them in surprise.

Jodie and Wrex gave each other a knowing glance, Jodie squinting ever so slightly.

"As I was saying, I'm not sure it's a good thing to hope for." With this said, Jodie turned her attention to the commander, crossing her arms as she stared at him balefully. "Shepard, with all due respect, what the hell did you  _do_ out there?"

Shepard cracked a smile at the two of them. "Nothing much," he said. "Well, except for using a mining laser near a semi-active volcano. Sensitivity is apparently not exclusive to people."

And even despite the fact that she had been interrupted by whatever it was she had just witnessed, Jodie managed to return the smile.

* * *

Jodie looked at the newcomer in silence. The asari was a considerably lighter shade of blue than Sura, but also looked quite a bit younger with her dark blue freckles and somewhat wide eyes. The asari looked a little flustered at first, though Jodie felt it might have something to do with how suddenly she had been pulled onto the Normandy. Shepard stood at the head of the briefing room, giving her a soft glance as he looked to the rest of the room.

Jodie was the only other one standing in that room. There had not been enough chairs there to seat everyone for the briefing, but the possible conundrum had been solved when Jodie volunteered to stand. She stood right by Tali's chair, leaning against the chair and being careful to make sure she stayed standing. She glanced over at the console at the front of the room, wondering if Shepard would ever use that.

Finally, after a somewhat tense silence, the console at the head of the room came to life.

" _Well, Commander, I have to say that that was too close,_ " Joker's voice said. " _Ten more seconds, and we would've been swimming in molten sulfur. The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull._ " Joker paused for a few seconds, giving Jodie enough time to look over at Liara. " _Just for future reference_."

"We almost died out there and your pilot is making  _jokes_?" Liara asked in disbelief.

Shepard shrugged. "It's a coping mechanism," he replied. "You'll get used to it."

Liara nodded, shifting her posture slightly. "I see," she said. "It must be a human thing. I don't have a lot of experience dealing with your species, Commander." She then leaned back in her chair. "But I am grateful to you, Commander. You saved my life back there, and not just from the volcano. Those geth would have killed me. Or dragged me off to Saren."

"What did Saren want with you?" Kaidan asked. "Do you know something about the Conduit?"

"Only that it was related to the Prothean extinction," Liara replied. "That is my field of expertise."

Jodie frowned, looking at Shepard immediately. "Shepard, do you think this is related to the Reapers?" she asked.

Liara looked over at Jodie. "The Reapers?" Liara asked.

"We don't know much about them, but we recovered a recording of Saren talking about the Reapers," said Shepard. "Even better, I know what they are..."

The asari glanced at Jodie and then looked at Shepard. "You do?" she asked. "How?"

"I received a vision from a prothean beacon on Eden Prime," Shepard said. "It showed me these... machines, overrunning the Prothean empire. There were so many screams, and then I saw a planet get blacked out..." Jodie leaned forward, looking at Shepard with an inquisitive look. "It must have been the Reapers, I think. They wiped out the Prothean empire."

The asari paused, bringing her hand up to her chin. "I... I suppose that makes sense," she replied. "The Prothean beacons were meant to transmit information directly into the mind of the user." She paused. "You must be remarkably strong-willed. Most information from a beacon comes as a scramble to non-Protheans. I am surprised you made any sense of it at all." She scooted to the edge of her chair before looking at Shepard. "And this beacon was on Eden Prime?"

"Yeah," Ash interjected. "It didn't last past Shepard, though. Saren had already used it before we got to it, too..."

"That would not surprise me," Liara said. "A Prothean beacon, even one that is not fully functional, is worth any risk. It is no wonder Saren worked with the geth..." She paused, looking over at Shepard. "I still cannot believe you have a definitive answer to what happened to the Protheans. It is...  _difficult_ to find any evidence to prove the theories." She paused. "Though it does confirm a theory I have been following for some time."

"Which is...?" Jodie asked.

"That the Protheans were lost to a war of some kind." Liara leaned forward. "The real trouble with finding evidence of what happened to the Protheans is that much of it was wiped away. It is as if someone did not want us to know the answers." She then looked at Shepard. "The remarkable thing I have discovered in my research is that the Protheans were not the first civilization to mysteriously disappear. The cycle would have started long before them." She sighed. "I guess it makes sense that these Reapers would have erased all evidence, perhaps to keep the cycle going."

Jodie shivered as the implications of this came to the forefront. She heard Aiden whoosh with a perturbed air, and the goosebumps came up her arms as she heard this.  _A group of sentient machines bent on wiping out all life?_  she thought.  _My God..._  She glanced down at the ground, squeezing her hands into fists to steel herself against the thoughts swimming in her head.

Ashley, however, shifted in her seat. "Well, that's interesting and all, but that doesn't help us with Saren," she said.

Liara jumped. "Ah, sorry," she said. "My scientific curiosity got the best of me, I'm afraid." She shook her head. "I don't have any new information to offer in terms of Saren. As I said on Therum, I have not even contacted my mother for some time. This is the first I've heard of her working with Saren."

Jodie nodded, realizing that Liara was probably referring to the female voice that was on Tali's recording.

Shepard nodded. "I see," he said. He nodded, looking at Liara. "I don't know why Saren wanted your head, but I think we'll all be better off if you came along."

Liara stood up upon hearing this. "Thank you, Commander," she said. "I cannot think of anywhere safer than here on your ship. And my knowledge of the Protheans might be useful later on."

Wrex leaned back, looking at Liara. "And her biotics will come in handy once the fighting starts," he commented.

Shepard nodded. "Welcome aboard the Normandy, Liara," he said.

* * *

Jodie sat at the mess hall again, looking over her response to Kalo'Veera. She had spent the better part of ten minutes putting everything down on the messenger client, and thankfully nobody had bothered her while she was in the act. She paused, looking over the message again and checking for every last detail. The words had come with a little effort, but Jodie was willing to work her way through it: after all, she had maintained no form of contact like what she was starting to acquire with Kalo'Veera. She had lost plenty of friends before: she wanted to make sure she could keep some semblance of sentient contact.

And as she read through the last of her errors, she nodded, giving the message a final look-over:

" _Kalo,_

_You're welcome for the message. To be frank, I've never done anything like this before. I never had a reason to, you know? But now that I do, well, here we are, yeah?_

_Really? I guess that's a difference between us, then: you like some background noise, and I like the quiet. I had bad childhood experiences when going to sleep: if there's no noise, I find it's better for my peace of mind. Sorry to hear that you can't seem to sleep with the silence. Perhaps adding some quiet music would help? I don't know; it may not help that much considering how used to it you've probably gotten by now. But it's something, isn't it? And hey, if you need any suggestions, I've got more than a few. I know that Nathan and Cole would sometimes do that when I was having trouble sleeping, so maybe it'll work for you as well?_

_I guess Shepard would be a terrible friend in that event, haha. But no, they seem to have gotten along pretty well. I wonder why Tali didn't think of messaging him, honestly. If they knew each other that well, I'm sure she would've known that he would come to help her at the first sign of trouble. But she didn't message him, so... I don't know. I get the feeling this all would've turned out differently if she had contacted him. But oh well, that's in the past now._

_Well, unfortunately, we may have to confront him with me in his presence. I'm sure it'll be fine by then, though: I've dealt with much worse people trying to get at me. I at least have friends that can help me fight them off now: this is something I wish I had earlier in my life. I'm sure I'll be fine if we run into Saren. We have Shepard, after all. I sense he's a pretty good leader, even if he does seem to do some rather reckless things._

_Speaking of which, I guess I'm not the only one in that situation anymore. We picked up an asari today; it's Matriarch Benezia's daughter, if you've ever heard of her. Apparently, Saren wanted her dead too for some reason. I'm guessing it's because Benezia is in league with Saren. I haven't gotten to talk with her yet, but she seems kind of like me. At least she had a translator on her, though. I guess that'll help her a lot. She seems nice enough, and I'm going to bet that she'll be a good friend to all on the ship._

_Anyway, I've got a lot more things to do. Duty calls, all that. But I'll send a message when I can._

_Stay safe out there,_

_Jodie._

_P.S. What does "Keelah se'lai" mean?_ "

Jodie nodded as she read the message again, smiling as she brought her hand over to the send button. She closed her eyes, and then she sent the message over to Kalo'Veera. She drummed her fingers against the table as soon as she did this, closing her omni-tool and smiling.

 _I'm really starting to get the hang of those holograms_ , she thought.  _I guess that's just one more thing there._

She then heard a cough from behind her. She turned to look to see Shepard standing there, looking at her with a determined look on his face.

Jodie blinked, and then got to her feet. "Oh, Shepard," she said. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

Shepard leaned towards Jodie. "When we get to our next destination, I want you to suit up," he said. "I think it's time I took you out for a test drive on the field."


	7. Chapter 6

"Okay, Commander, what're we dealing with here?"

Garrus asked this as he fastened his helmet onto his armor. Jodie followed suit, looking right at the commander as he rolled his arms in his shoulder.

Shepard nodded, the three of them coming up to the door to the airlock. "We're dealing with a group of biotic terrorists," Shepard said.

Jodie shivered. "Biotic terrorists? On my first mission?" she asked.

"Yes," said Shepard. "Why?"

"Well, I wasn't facing biotics the last time I was in a firefight, and I haven't had any experience against one," Jodie said. "And now you're bringing me into battle with an enemy I haven't seen in action all that much. I'm not sure this is a good idea..."

"Garrus tells me he has tech expertise, and I have a feeling you'll be able to pull your own weight," said Shepard. "And if anything goes wrong, I also have biotics." He then nodded. "I think we'll be all right."

Jodie nervously checked her pistol again, making sure it was in working order. "I hope so, Commander," she said. "I don't like the thought of having to deal with biotics after just having learned how to use an assault rifle, but I'll go with it for now."

"Fair enough," said Shepard.

"So we have a bunch of biotic terrorists," Garrus chimed in. "I'll assume they aren't being all that nice to people."

"No, they're not," said Shepard. "These biotic terrorists have taken a hostage. The hostage is Chairman Burns, and it's vital that we get him out of there alive."

Jodie frowned. "What's he the chairman of?" she asked.

"He's the head of the Alliance Subcommittee for Transhuman Studies," Shepard replied. "Intel was inconclusive on why he was taken hostage, and they haven't made any demands yet. For now, we're assuming that they're hostile." He paused, looking at Jodie and Garrus. "That said, we want them alive, so don't aim to kill. Aim to disable."

Jodie tilted her head to the side, looking at Shepard with slightly wide eyes. "They're holding a hostage, Commander," said Jodie as she crossed her arms. "Shouldn't we try to negotiate with them first?"

"With the way the ship is structured? We'll have to shoot first," said Garrus as he opened his omni-tool. Jodie heard her own omni-tool ping, but she kept her gaze trained on Garrus' omni-tool as he opened a map of the craft they were about to board. "They'll probably kill the hostage."

"They  _won't_ kill the hostage," said Shepard. "These terrorists haven't made any demands yet, and we're the first people the Alliance has sent to deal with the problem. If we're quick and quiet, we'll be where the hostage is before they kill him. And from there, we'll have to negotiate to let him walk."

"You think they'll listen to reason?" Jodie asked. "I mean, I hope they do, but..."

"We'll have to hope," said Shepard. "And if they don't, we'll have to take them down. Again, aim to incapacitate, not to kill." He then nodded. "Until we get to that point, I have a plan to get us close."

"And what's your plan related to that?" Jodie asked.

"I'll need to get on the ship to flesh out the details," said Shepard. "Intel didn't say how many people were on this ship. But if my hunch is right, I think I might already have an idea of how to approach this."

Jodie swallowed, feeling her hands shake a little. "All right," she said. "Let's get on this ship and see what we're up against."

* * *

Shepard, Jodie, and Garrus all stealthily moved along. Garrus glanced at the airlock, before shaking his head and creeping forward.

"You'd think that these guys would have noticed that the Normandy had docked with the ship," Garrus said, softly enough that no human ears would hear it but loudly enough that it registered on the private comm channels.

Jodie nodded. "Yeah," she said. "You'd think that all the rocking would have notified them."

Shepard shook his head. "Well, they haven't crowded this airlock yet, so I guess not," said Shepard. He looked over at Jodie. "Jodie, you said you could sneak around, right? Perhaps you can do that and give us an estimation of their forces."

Jodie nodded, casting a brief glance at Aiden as she checked her pistol. "Yeah, I can do that," she said. "Just tell me when and I'll scout it out for you."

"All right," said Shepard. Shepard and Jodie then walked to the airlock, the two of them approaching a door. Jodie heard Aiden give some kind of billowing noise, and Jodie nodded to Shepard.

"You think the door will attract them to us?" she asked.

"No," said Shepard. "Get in there, and tell us how many there are in there."

Jodie nodded. "I can try to take them down, if you want," she said.

Shepard shook his head in response. "We don't know how man there are in there," Shepard replied. "It would be best to take them out when we know their numbers."

"Fair enough," Jodie replied. She then looked to Shepard. "I'm ready whenever you are."

Shepard nodded, quickly opening the omni-tool and manipulating it. "Go."

The door opened quickly, and Jodie was through before Shepard could say another word. She found herself in front of a row of crates, which Jodie immediately sidled up against as the door closed behind her. She looked to her right, finding that there was another group of crates before turning and seeing that there was an opening to her left. She looked over there intently, slowly making her way to the edge and making sure her footsteps were silent. She glanced up at the ceiling as she went, before finally sidling up against the edge and peering around it. When she found nobody headed in her direction from the two-way intersection ahead of her, she nodded.

 _Okay Aiden,_  she thought.  _How many of these people are there?_

Jodie spared another second to take a peek beyond the intersection she was at. She noticed that the crates were stacked lower as she got over there. After a few seconds, she sidled back, seeing a person peer beyond the crates. She held her breath for a few seconds, her finger tapping against the body of her pistol as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

She peered over the crates she hid behind again to see that the terrorist she had seen had walked away from there.

Jodie then heard an articulate click from somewhere above her. She then glanced up at where Aiden was, and then she heard five more articulate clicks seemingly from nowhere. Jodie looked ahead of her, waiting for Aiden's next move.

She then nearly jumped in surprise when Aiden opened her omni-tool again. Jodie blinked, holding it up to see that Aiden had opened the image processor on the omni-tool. On it was scrawled some kind of rudimentary map, similar to what a child might have drawn with crayon. However, Jodie noticed a very prominent red dot towards the bottom of the drawing, and saw several green dots along the length of the rudimentary drawing. There were also several lines scrawled on the image so that it looked like a badly-drawn maze, and the red dot was leaned right next to one of these lines.

Jodie glanced behind her, before looking up at Aiden. "Is this a map?" she whispered.

Aiden clicked at a higher pitch than he normally would.

Jodie looked at the image for a few seconds, her brows furrowing. "I see..." she said, noting how close the lines were. She examined the image, dragging her line along.

 _Hm... these walls seem close, and even though there are a few of these guys, it seems like they're all separated,_  she noted.  _But that doesn't say anything. E_ _ven if they're not armed, they still have their biotics... But still, it looks like I can do this one by one..._

After some more time, she nodded, closing the omni-tool and then bringing her hand up to the helmet.

"Okay Shepard," she whispered. "I've gotten some scouting done. There are six of these guys out here."

" _I see,_ " Shepard said. " _How is the room structured?_ "

"They've sectioned this whole thing off into a bunch of corridors with crates," Jodie replied. "From the looks of things, it looks like they're all separated within these corridors. Really, it's almost like a maze that way."

" _Do you think you can take them down alone?_ " Shepard asked.

Jodie glanced at her omni-tool hand for a second. "I mean, it'll be a little difficult, but I can try," she said. "But if I'm going to do it, I need to know you'll be able to help if anything goes wrong. I doubled back to the door, so..."

A second later, the door opened, and Jodie looked back over to the doorway. Garrus and Shepard both walked through, the two of them pressing their backs to the wall of crates Jodie was at.

"Then we'll be right here," Shepard whispered.

Jodie nodded. "All right," she said. She then looked ahead. "Just... let me do all the work, all right? Hopefully, I'll have this whole thing under control." She then peered past the corner. "Trust me, you'll know when something's gone wrong."

Shepard looked up. "In a space like this, I don't doubt it," he said. "The floor is yours, soldier."

Jodie nodded, and then peered around the corner again. Her hands tightened, and she steeled her nerves.

 _You can do this, Jodie_ , she thought.  _You can do this._

She took one breath. Two breaths.

And on the third breath, she quickly stole across the artificial hall, flattening her back against the crates.

She snuck around, Aiden clicking once in alarm. Jodie ducked down, looking directly down the passage. Her gaze turned to where the crates seemingly opened up, and she slowly got to her knees. She then flattened herself against the dip, looking directly above her as she waited for the biotic to come around.

The biotic came close, and then Jodie saw her chance. Right as the biotic came down, she sprung up, almost leaping on top of him. The momentum was enough to carry the both of them to the ground, with Jodie throwing one of her legs out to soften the fall. As she got on this leg, her left hand planted itself on the biotic's face, and even as she softened his fall she slammed his head against the floor with enough force to knock him out. Jodie quickly covered the biotic's mouth, just barely catching the man's groan as he was knocked out. Jodie looked up to see that nobody had noticed her.

Yet.

Jodie quickly darted into a small side passage, expecting that someone else would be headed towards her. While she had slowed the fall somewhat, she had not been as quiet as she had hoped, and she quickly darted into an adjoining passage, flattening herself against it. As she did this, she became acutely aware of the sounds of footsteps heading towards the man she had taken out, and her pulse quickened as she balled one of her hands into a fist. She breathed in through her nose, waiting as the sounds got closer.

When they did, Jodie saw a woman walk to the downed terrorist. She let out a sound of surprise, and then knelt down to check on her downed compatriot. Jodie slinked towards this new woman, as she opened the omni-tool. Jodie's steps were quick: a touch too quick, in fact, for her shoe slid across the metal floor and emitted a soft sliding sound.

Most people would not have heard the sound. The biotic in front of Jodie heard it, however, and immediately she turned towards Jodie.

Jodie lunged at the biotic as soon as she was spotted, and she briefly saw the biotic light up very quickly. Jodie had moved quicker, instinctively kicking the hand to knock the pistol out of it. She then brought her other leg out, kicking the woman across the head with quite a bit of force. This did not knock her out, but it gave Jodie time to slink to the ground and hit the biotic's head against a crate immediately behind her. This terrorist went down quickly as well.

It took a few seconds for the fact that the gun had not clattered to the ground to register in Jodie's mind. Thinking on this, she looked to where the gun probably should have been to see it hovering a few inches off the ground, as if being held by some mysterious force.

Jodie sighed in relief.  _Thanks, Aiden,_  she thought. She grabbed the pistol from there, setting it gently on the ground. She then looked ahead, darting back into where she had hidden while opening her omni-tool. She glanced at Aiden's map again, looking at the hallway briefly to get a sense of where she was. She noticed that the path from where the female biotic had come from came at an intersection right around the corner from where she was and that there should have been one other biotic around there.

She nodded.  _Okay, Aiden,_ she thought.  _One more on this side, and then we can get to the other side._ _  
_

Jodie then stalked forward, glancing at the map a final time before closing it. She quickly reached the fork in the path, and leaned up against the wall to her right. She peered over the edge, and upon seeing nobody there she turned into the right side of the corridor. She glanced at the crates immediately to her left, flattening herself against some of them as she pondered her next move carefully. She sidled over to the edge of the crates opposite her, wondering why the guard would patrol an area not even remotely close to where the hostage was as she then walked into the opening of crates immediately ahead of her.

As soon as she took two steps forward, she flattened her back against some more crates, peering around the corner at the target in front of her. The target's back was turned to her, which Jodie took as a good sign. She stalked forward, her steps light on the ground as she edged closer. With some good speed, she closed on the target, preparing to bring her fist out. The target had not even been able to turn around before Jodie had rushed forward, placing her hand on his mouth and then slamming his head against the crates in front of her with as little noise as possible.

What Jodie had not counted on was her target's volume of speech. Even through her hand, the man let out a grunt loud enough that it could be heard from beyond the crates she was at. Jodie winced, and hesitated for a short second. She then looked up, hearing a commotion come from the other side of the ship.

 _Shit!_ she thought, her hair standing on end. She knew immediately that she had been spotted to some capacity.

She lowered the man to the ground, being careful not to make a sound as she did so. She glanced behind her, and retreated from where she came as quickly as possible. Her footsteps were rather quiet still, but there was now an air of desperation. She knew there was no way she would be able to take on all three of the remaining people on her own, and her mind began to work on overdrive.

She then flattened herself against the wall of the intersection she had come from, looking at the gun in her hip. She then turned her head to the ceiling, looking up at Aiden as he clicked twice in warning. Jodie let out an uneasy breath, more to steel her nerves for the confrontation that was now inevitable.

 _Well, now they'll know we're here_ , Jodie thought.  _At least we only have to deal with three guys in this place now. I just hope we don't have to deal with-_ _._

And then the wall of crates beside her was launched away, with several crates bursting out and destroying the makeshift wall. Jodie dove to her right immediately, the biotics suddenly letting out loud screams of alarm.

As Jodie got to her feet, she looked behind her to see a biotic terrorist rushing at her. She instinctively drew her gun, but before she could do anything she found herself frozen in place, a blue field covering much of her vision. It was a slightly darker blue than anything she ever saw from Aiden, and it seemed to swim in her vision in a different way.

However, she had no time to process this, for then she saw the biotic pull out his own gun. Jodie felt her heart beat in fear, and her eyes immediately darted up.

Thankfully, Aiden was quick to action, for Jodie felt the barrier holding her in place dispel. She fell to the ground just as the biotic fired a shot in her direction, Jodie holding her arm up and firing a few quick shots. The first shot missed its mark, while the second one grazed the biotic's arm. The third round passed right through the biotic's stomach, and Jodie winced as he let out a roar of pain and fell to the ground.

Jodie let out a gasp.  _Shit!_  she thought.  _Aiden, do something about that wound!_  She then rushed forward, looking directly at the biotic. As she did, a mysterious-looking energy seemed to come over the downed biotics' stomach. Jodie had seen Aiden's healing factor at work enough times to know when he was active, and she knew from the way the wound healed itself a little more quickly that Aiden had a hand in that. Jodie glanced at the biotic as he passed out, hoping that he would not remember the odd force that was acting on his stomach.

 _And even if he did..._  she thought.  _Even if he did, it still saved his life. I hope this is worth it..._

Aiden finished doing what he could for the biotic, and then Jodie got to her feet immediately. She had barely been able to get her bearings before she found herself launched back into one of the walls of crates, though she simply fell to the ground. She heard a few gunshots from that distance, but could not see who fired the shots as she tried to regain her bearings. Jodie pushed herself to her feet after a few seconds, grunting in pain as she stood up. She wobbled a little on her feet, which was enough time for her to hear the last of the exchanged gunshots.

She then felt a three-fingered hand grab at her, and when Jodie was aware of her surroundings, she found Garrus and Shepard both looking at her.

"You okay there, soldier?" Shepard asked.

"Uh... yeah!" said Jodie. "The hostage! We need to-!"

"We do," said Shepard, turning to the direction that he assumed the door would be. "Come on, we need to find the hostage before he's-"

"-executed, I know," Jodie replied as she began to follow Shepard. "Sorry. I did the best I could."

"Taking three people out on your own in this kind of environment was no small feat," Shepard replied as they weaved through the crate maze. "I'm just glad you made the job easier for us all."

And Shepard dropped the subject, with Jodie deciding it was best to leave it at that.

* * *

Their quick walking took them too a hallway, with Shepard immediately trying the door directly to the left. As soon as they did, Jodie set her eyes on four people, one of whom knelt on the ground with his hands behind his head. The leader of the group, a bald man with somewhat tan skin, held a gun up to the man who knelt on the floor.

Shepard immediately walked in, with Jodie and Garrus following. Jodie glanced at Shepard, noticing that the commander made no moves to draw his weapon. She thought she saw his hand twitch, but other than that Shepard gave no indication that he was ready to use force.

"See how it is?" the biotic leader asked immediately. "You write letters, and everyone ignores you. Force is the only thing people appreciate."

Jodie's facial expression fell upon hearing this.  _Yeah, tell that to Aiden sometime_ , she thought sardonically.

As Aiden let out an offended trill, the biotic leader continued. "So how about I kill Chairman Burns and finish this charade?" he asked.

"Please!" the kneeling man cried out in desperation. "I was trying to help you people!"

Without missing a beat, Shepard took a step forward, though without saying anything. "Let's not do anything we're going to regret!" he said immediately.

"Why not?" asked the biotic leader. "What have we got to lose? Since the chairman here decided that we didn't get reparations, we've got nothing left to live for."

"B-but I've changed my mind!" the kneeling man replied. "Seeing y-you all here, it's c-clear that-!"

"You had your chance," the biotic leader snarled, the menacing tone of his voice interrupting the chairman mid-sentence. "Some L2's are nearly crippled from the side effects of the implants, but you voted against reparations!"

Jodie paused at this, looking at the leader as he said this. She felt her blood run a little cold at this minor revelation. Jodie knew this perhaps should not have come as a surprise, but then she thought back to Kaidan and the migraines he said he got from the L2 implants.

 _Holy crap... it could've been a lot worse!_  she thought immediately.  _Why didn't... No, he had his reasons. He must've. I just..._ She shivered, looking at the L2 biotic in front of her.  _Kaidan... He could've..._

Aiden clicked once, the sound lacking any kind of resonance whatsoever. Jodie nearly glared at Aiden, but before she could, she caught Shepard's shifting posture out of the corner of her eye. She turned towards Shepard, noticing that he had taken a very small step towards the chairman.

"You voted against-?"

"I didn't know L2s were this desperate!" the chairman shouted. "Please, don't let them kill me! I'll even review the reparations request!"

Shepard took a step forward, but Jodie noticed that it was a rather harsh step. Shepard then exhaled, looking at Chairman Burns. "And you can guarantee that these biotics will get their reparations?"

"Hmph. I doubt that," said the biotic leader. "You'll say anything we want to hear to get out of here, but as soon as we let you go you'll double-cross us, won't you?"

Jodie shook her head. "We have an L2 on our crew," she said. "We could put the pressure on him to make sure you get those reparations. Right, Shepard?"

"Yes," said Shepard. "We can't guarantee that you'll be set free, but I can make sure he follows up on it."

The chairman then turned slightly, his gaze fixing itself on the biotic leader. "It is not much, but I can promise those reparations to you," said the chairman. "For whatever it's worth, I won't break that promise."

The biotic leader paused, his gaze turning down to the biotic leader. He glanced up at Shepard for a few seconds, and then turned his attention back to the chairman. Jodie could hear Aiden moving in the air, preparing to defend the chairman from coming to any harm if it came down to it. Jodie's heart-rate spiked a little as Aiden did this, but at the same time she knew it was probably best. Her secret would be blown to more than just the Alliance, but if it saved a life...

And then, the biotic leader put his gun down, throwing it to the side.

"I don't want to die," he said. "And I don't think any of us want that either." He shook his head as the chairman stood up. "We surrender."

Shepard nodded, though it was a stiff, unnatural nod. He looked over at the chairman as he sighed in relief. Shepard glanced at the terrorists, before gesturing to the chairman to follow him. The chairman followed him out, but before Jodie could say anything more the doors closed behind the both of them.

Jodie turned to the biotics in front of her right as they nodded. "So what happens now?" the biotic asked.

"Well, they'll probably send in a cruiser to take care of this ship," said Garrus. "Whatever happens, we'll have to leave it up to them."

"I see..." The biotic leader bowed his head. "Please, make sure the chairman follows through."

"We will," Jodie said. "I promise."

The biotic nodded his head. "Thank you," he said. "I guess we'll see what happens when the cruiser comes for us."

* * *

Jodie stood in the airlock, allowing the decontamination cycle to finish its business. She looked over at Shepard as he opened his own helmet. Jodie did the same herself, taking in a nice gulp of air. It was certainly a welcome change from the helmet, and Jodie realized just how constricting it could be.

 _I guess I'll have to get used to that,_  she thought.

She then sighed, holding the helmet under her shoulder. "Well, I guess that does that," she said. "How do you think it went?"

"Nobody died, I guess," he said. "I still don't know if I did the right thing, though."

Jodie turned to Shepard, her expression lighting up in surprise. "And why not?" Jodie asked.

"I talked to him after the biotics surendered," said Shepard. "He indicated that he would do what needed to be done, but..." He paused, and then look away. "I think that biotic might have been right." His voice dropped to a slightly deeper level as he said this, and the pitch was such that it gave Jodie reason to pause.

Nevertheless, she brought one of her hands up, letting the hand lay against her chest as she spoke. "I know that people will say anything under pressure, but you don't know what happened there," she replied.

"Exactly," Shepard replied. "You don't either."

"I don't," she said. "But that doesn't mean he shouldn't be given the benefit of the doubt." Jodie looked to the airlock door. "Trust me, there are some people that can change, you know? And in his case... I think he can make that change."

"I hope you're right, Jodie," said Shepard. He shook his head, a dark frown on his face. "I hope you're right."

On those words, the airlock door opened, and Shepard stepped out. Jodie glanced back at Garrus, the turian shrugging as cradled his own helmet under his shoulder.

"Interesting," said Garrus. "What was he saying that for?"

"I don't know," said Jodie, looking at Garrus. "Perhaps he's had a bad history with that?"

"Maybe," said Garrus. "He's probably going to be real guarded about it, too."

Jodie sighed, tilting her head to the side and looking at the ground. "I... I honestly wouldn't blame him if he was," said Jodie, softy enough for effect but loudly loud enough for Garrus to hear. "But in this case, I think it's important to remember that not all people are out to get others." She shook her head. "I almost forgot that once, and in a place like this it's easy to forget that. But... I remember that. I look back on my life, and even still I remember that not everyone is out to get you."

"Hm. Well, don't  _you_  sound like quite the optimist," Garrus pointed out, his voice a little sardonic.

Jodie let out a soft chuckle. "Only sometimes, Offi-Garrus," she replied as she exited the airlock. "Only sometimes."

And with this, she entered back onto the Normandy, Garrus following her back into the ship.

* * *

Jodie had only just stepped into the mess hall when she noticed that Kaidan was off to the side. She noticed that he was reaching into the monitor, almost as if tweaking the wires of a nearby display. After a few seconds, he would step back, looking at the monitor for a few seconds as if checking it. He'd then shake his head and go back at it, tweaking the display again with deft finger motions.

Jodie blinked, but eventually walked up to the biotic. "Hey Kaidan," she said.

Kaidan turned upon hearing the voice, seeing that Jodie had not yet stepped out of her new armor. "Oh hello Jodie," he said, turning his attention back to the wires he was manipulating. "I take it you're back from dealing with the chairman?"

"Yeah," said Jodie, scratching the back of her neck. She then paused, glancing to the side nervously. "Actually, I wanted to ask you something about the biotics there. We found the biotics and talked to them, and..." She then looked at Kaidan and held her arms out. "And you don't have to answer this if you don't want, but..." She took a deep breath. "Have you known any other L2 biotics?"

Kaidan paused, right before he let out a small yelp of pain. His hand quickly retreated from the wires, and Jodie noticed the small welt on his hand right before it retreated from view.

Jodie immediately ran forward, her eyebrows raising a little. "Oh... Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" she said. "I shouldn't have-"

"No, no, it's fine," said Kaidan, giving Jodie a dismissive hand-wave. "I just got a little distracted." He then looked back to where the wires were as he shook his hand out. "I will say, though, that hurt a  _lot_."

"I'm so sorry," said Jodie. "If I hadn't-"

"Jodie, it's fine," Kaidan replied, patting Jodie's shoulder immediately. He shook his head, before turning back to her. "Why do you want to know?"

"Well..." Jodie said, crossing her arms. "The biotics that had taken the chairman prisoner were all L2 biotics. They were looking for repatriations for it, and-"

"Oh." Kaidan glanced down. "I guess they talked about how bad it was."

"Yeah," said Jodie. "He said some of them were crippled..." She paused, looking at Kaidan. "I didn't know L2s had it that bad."

"Some have it worse than others," Kaidan said. He looked at Jodie. "Hell, sometimes I wonder what would've been if I hadn't been as lucky as I am. It's..." He paused, glancing to the side somewhat. "It can be hard to think of." He looked over at Jodie. "I've never known any other L2s in my life." He then chuckled darkly. "Though, hearing that those biotics that took the chairman hostage were L2s... I wish I was there. I wonder what it would've been like, to talk to other L2s..." He shook his head. "It probably sounds silly, wanting to connect with my peers like that."

Jodie shook her head in reply. "Actually, I don't find it silly at all," she said. She glanced down at the ground. "I've always wanted peers I could talk to, you know?"

Kaidan nodded. "I guess you were pretty sheltered?" he asked.

Jodie hesitated, looking off to the side. "I..." She swallowed a lump in her throat, glancing at Aiden quickly. A dash of fear came across her eyes, and she noticed that Kaidan remained quiet as she found her skin cool a little bit.

 _Should I, Aiden?_  she asked.  _I mean... he seems nice enough, but should I really be giving away details about my life if..._

She paused, and then looked right at Kaidan. He remained silent, though his brows were now furrowed in expectation. His hands were crossed behind his back, and he looked at Jodie not with a judging look, but with one that expected answers.

Jodie glanced at the ground.  _Oh, what the hell?_  she thought.  _It's not too many details_.

"I... I was pretty sheltered," she said. "I lived in a place where I had lots of people monitoring me all the time. Strict sleep schedules, very little interaction with other girls my age..." She paused, her fingers twitching. "It was a little rough."

"I see..." she said. "It must've been rough."

"Well, it wasn't all that bad," Jodie replied, gripping her elbow. "The people monitoring me at least cared for me. They're the closest thing I ever got to an actual family, really. It's just... I never got to socialize with people my age. And the few times I did, it didn't turn out all that well." She shook her head. "So I don't think it's silly to want that at all." She crossed her arms. "If only Shepard had known they were L2 biotics..."

"Yeah," said Kaidan, giving Jodie a small smile. "If only." He shrugged at this. "Well, I guess we'll have to leave it at that." He nodded, and then looked directly at Jodie. "Thanks."

Jodie blinked in surprise. "What for?" she asked.

"For telling me," he said. He shrugged. "I mean, I didn't get to talk to them, but I guess it's good to know that they were there." He paused, and then shrugged. "And it's nice to get to know a little more about you."

Jodie chuckled. "Sorry about that," she said, rubbing her arm. "I'll admit I get a little  _guarded_ around other people."

"We all get that way sometimes," Kaidan replied, leaning back. His smile fell a little, but nevertheless his posture was rather jovial. "Eventually, the skeletons come out of the closet. And trust me, whatever yours are, you're not the only one."

Jodie nodded. "I guess that's comforting. A little." She sighed, and then looked at Kaidan. "Well, I should get downstairs. Ashley is probably wondering why I haven't gotten the guns to her yet."

Kaidan chuckled. "Yeah, you might not want to keep her waiting," he said as he returned to the monitor. "I'll be up here if you need me."

"All right," Jodie said. "I... I guess I'll see you around, then."

"I guess I will," said Kaidan.

And then he returned to sticking his hands in where the wires connected to the display.


	8. Chapter 7

When Jodie went down to Ashley, she noticed that the gunnery chief was concentrated on a shotgun being maintained on the table. As Jodie stepped forward, she watched the gunnery chief work, Ashley saying nothing if she had acknowledged Jodie's presence. Eventually, Jodie settled next to Ashley, watching her work on reassembling the shotgun quickly. Jodie crossed her arms, looking down at the disassembled shotgun.

"Nice handiwork," Jodie began.

Ashley only chuckled in response. "You're a little late, soldier," she said.

"Sorry, I was talking to Kaidan," said Jodie. "There were L2s on that ship, and I thought..." Jodie paused. "Well, I just thought I'd let him know about that."

"Hm. Fair enough," said Ashley as she put a mechanical component back into the shotgun. "I heard you did pretty well out there today."

"Yeah," said Jodie. "Though, I will admit, I  _was_ in a comfort zone of mine for most of it. The ship was rather confined, you see..."

Ashley nodded. "I also heard that too," she said. She shrugged, and then fitted another piece inside the shotgun. "But a successful field op is a successful field op, Jodie. If your mission was a success... well..."

Jodie sighed softly. "I guess that's true," she said.  _Now if only one of those 'successful' missions hadn't been in Somalia..._ "Sorry," she continued aloud. "It was... I'm not sure how to put it. The biotics just wanted reparations. I'm not sure why..." She shook her head. "I've never understood some people in chains of command. I mean, we're talking about a politician here, but still..."

Ashley paused as she held a final component. "You and me both, soldier," she said, her voice dropping in tone a little. "Some people that high up in the food chain have their heads stuck so far up their asses I'm surprised they can hear anything from there."

Jodie rose her eyebrows as she heard this. She noticed that Ashley's expression had hardened somewhat, her brows furrowed and her hands just a little bit more tense than they usually were. Jodie fidgeted nervously where she stood, and then she looked away.

"Bad blood?" Jodie asked.

"Yeah," said Ashley. She then chuckled darkly. "I guess you're not the only one with skeletons in the closet around here."

"Apparently not," Jodie agreed. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want."

Ashley blinked, and then looked over at Jodie with a grateful expression on her face. "Thanks," she said.

Jodie nodded. "Yeah," she said. She shrugged. "Trust me, I have my own skeletons in the closet, so to speak."

"I guess we all do on this ship, huh?" Ashley asked as she gestured to where Wrex would normally sit.

"Seems like it," said Jodie, chuckling nervously. She ignored Aiden's nervous clicking in favor of turning back to Ashley. "I'm wondering, actually... You have anyone to look after?"

Ash chuckled, leaning against the table. "Sure do," she replied. "I've got three sisters and my mom to look after."

Jodie's eyes widened. "Three sisters?" she asked. "Damn..." She chuckled. "How did you not get overwhelmed by all that?"

"We were all we had, sometimes," Ashley said. "Dad was always moving with new deployments, and so would we. We had to stay close, because we were always leaving our friends every two years." Ashley shrugged. "Sometimes, having a lot of siblings can really help you out."

Jodie nodded, glancing down at the ground. "It sounds like it was great," said Jodie.

"Well, it's not all fun," said Ashley. "Sarah's my youngest sister. She's still in high school right now. Things were tense between us at one point."

"Yeah, but you were still pretty close," said Jodie. She paused, glancing to the side. "I only had Cole and Nathan."

Ashley rose her eyebrows. "Your dads?" she asked. "That's a little odd, calling them by their first names."

"They weren't my parents," said Jodie. "They..." She then chuckled mirthlessly. "I mean, I guess they were since they basically raised me, but they never made me call them dad for any reason. Probably because they knew how rocky my family history was." She shook her head. "I never knew my real father, and I never even saw my birth mother until a few months ago, give or take." She sighed, leaning over the table and drumming her fingers against it. "I had been adopted, and then those parents gave me away to Cole and Nathan when I was eight years old."

"Huh," said Ashley, leaning closer. "Sounds like you were a problem child."

"I wasn't, really," Jodie replied. "It was all due to circumstances outside of my control." She shook her head again. "I never really had any friends growing up, either. No siblings or anything."  _Just an entity that follows me everywhere and made my life a little difficult sometimes._

Aiden trilled sharply as soon as she thought this, but Jodie ignored him. "Really, I just wanted to have friends my age. And you certainly got that with your sisters, you know?"

Ashley nodded slowly. "I see," she said. "Well, if it makes you feel better, it's not all good with siblings. Sarah and I... things used to be a little  _tense_ between us." She shrugged. "But we've had an opportunity to...  _bond_."

Jodie tilted her head upon hearing how Ashley had emphasized "bond". She leaned a little closer, her eyebrows slightly perked as she did this. "Bond, you say?" Jodie asked. "That... that sounds like quite the story."

Ashley nodded, a rather playful smile coming to her lips. "Sarah had gotten herself a boyfriend," she replied. "He wanted to go faster than she did. Mike."

"Oh dear," said Jodie, chuckling and shaking her head. "He wasn't a bad kid was he?"

"I just thought he was just  _pushy_ ," said Ashley. "I got some vid-mails from my other sister Lynn, and I'd tell her to relax." She shrugged. "Mike thought they'd go for a  _romantic_ walk in the woods, 'cause he figured it was past time they did the deed. She levered Mike face-first into a tree and left, didn't even have a scratch on her."

Jodie blinked. "Huh," she said. "She sounds like she could hold her own."

"She definitely could," said Ashley. "We all learned some self-defense."

"Wouldn't expect any less from military parents," Jodie observed. "But I bet you were a little worried, right?"

"I took a few days leave and walked her to school for a few days," said Ashley. "I was stationed a few light years away. I just wanted to make sure she was all right."

"And was she?" Jodie asked.

"On my last day out, we ran into Mike," said Ashley. "Sara told her friends, so everyone at school knew what Mike did. He was angry. I wanted to snap him in half, but Sarah gave me this look, this... 'let me handle it, I need to do this alone' look. She kept her cool, God bless her, as he screamed in her face. She just, let him vent." She then shifted her posture, looking at some point above Jodie. "Then, he tried to punch her."

"Knowing what she did last time, I guess that didn't end too well for him," Jodie replied.

"When he punched, she just flowed," said Ashley. "She wasn't there where the fist was. Next thing I know, Mike is face-down on the sidewalk, and there's blood everywhere." Ashley paused, crossing her arms. "She helped him stop the bleeding and had me call an ambulance. She told the paramedics he fell."

"And how'd Mike respond to that?" Jodie asked.

"He... He said he was sorry," said Ashley. "He touched Sarah's arm, hung his head, and whispered 'I'm sorry' before crying." She paused, her hand tapping once against the table. "And she hugged him."

Jodie nodded. "Huh," she said. She looked over at Ashley. "You know, I think that's a good thing she's got going there."

"Well, we Williams girls are a decisive bunch," she said.

But Jodie shook her head, gesturing a little with her left hand. "I don't mean it like that," said Jodie, a light smile coming to her. "I mean, what Mike did was not that great, but the way Sarah replied to it..." She paused, letting the implication sink in. Ashley bowed her head in agreement a few seconds later, and then Jodie looked directly at Ashley. "Whoever taught her that was a good person." She then sighed. "And she learned it early, too. Next time you see her, tell her to keep that attitude. It'll help her out in the long run."

"I'll go ahead and do that," said Ashley. "Well, if I can work it in." She nodded, giving Jodie a nod. "Now, if we're done, I have weapons to clean."

Jodie gasped, and then hurriedly stepped away from the table. "Right, sorry," said Jodie. "I'll just... um... go put my assault rifle away. I guess I'll...?"

"Don't worry about the pistol," Ashley replied. "I'll put it back in the assigned locker when I'm done."

Jodie nodded. "Thanks," she said. "You take care of those guns, Ashley."

"And you take care of yourself, Jodie," Ashley replied simply, before turning her attention back to the weapons table.

Jodie smiled, and then walked away from the table. She scratched her chin in thought, making sure to glance up every so often to make sure she did not into anyone. She thought of this, and then looked up at where she suspected Aiden would be.

 _You think she would be trustworthy at some point, Aiden?_  she thought.

But Aiden clicked several times, each subsequent click harsher than the last.

Jodie sighed, rubbing her temples as she came to a stop at the elevator.  _Come on, Aiden, you know I wasn't being completely serious, right?_  she thought.

Aiden gurgled, the space in the sound suggesting some displeasure. The gurgle ended after about three seconds, leaving Jodie to turn her attention up to the ceiling as he finished. After a few more seconds, Aiden allowed a single loud click to punctuate his thoughts, but it was a click with a somewhat lighter tone than his previous gurgle.

Jodie smiled as she entered the elevator, crossing her arms.  _Yeah, I thought you'd see it too,_  she thought.  _Don't worry, Aiden. I'll be careful. But I think she's safe._ _  
_

And with that, she pressed the call button to go back to the crew deck.

* * *

As soon as she arrived on the crew deck, Jodie took two steps forward and then bumped into someone. When she stepped back, she saw that Liara T'Soni had fallen on her butt, a dazed expression on her face.

Jodie's immediate reaction of surprise that she managed to bring Liara T'Soni to her butt was suddenly suppressed. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Jodie said as she ran over to Liara and helped her up.

"Oh, no, no, it's fine," Liara said as she stood on her feet. "I wasn't looking where I was going, anyway." She then bowed her head. "I'm sorry, I'm still not used to this ship."

Jodie shook her head. "Well, I wasn't looking where I was going, either, so there you go," Jodie replied. She then sighed nervously. "I'm sorry, I don't think we've formally introduced ourselves. You were... Liara, right?"

"Uh, yes," said Liara. "And you're the only human ground team member I haven't met, which means that you must be... Jodie?"

Jodie nodded, smiling at the asari. "Yeah," she said. "Nice to meet you."

"I... Same as well..." Liara paused, before awkwardly holding her hands in front of her. She leaned forward, a somewhat nervous and inquisitive look forming on her face. "You...  _would_ use that phrase, right?"

"Yeah, we would," said Jodie.

"Good," said Liara. "I'm sorry, it's strange being the only one unfamiliar with any alien species here."

Jodie chuckled. "Well, if it makes you feel better, I first got onto the Citadel without knowing what a universal translator was," she replied.

Liara blinked in surprise. "Really?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Jodie. "So if anything, I know even less than you do."

"Oh." Liara then gave a nervous smile. "I see..." She looked over at Jodie. "You at least know the Protheans, right?"

"The apparent creators of the mass relay network?" Jodie asked with a shrug. "I know of them, at the very least, so it's something." She shrugged. "I still don't really know anything about them as a people, though."

"And neither do we," said Liara. "I guess that's the beauty of my field, actually: we're still piecing it together."

Jodie tilted her head to the side. "I don't think I ever caught wind of your field," she said. "All I know is you were at a dig site."

"An archeological dig site," Liara continued.

Jodie blinked, right before bringing a single hand to her face and rubbing it. "Oh, of course," she said. "Of  _course_ I would miss the obvious with that."

"Well, I've done such things with human customs before, so I wouldn't be surprised," Liara replied. She then glanced past Jodie to the elevator. "I apologize, but I was going to speak with Chief Williams about my weapons assignments. Shepard told me I should speak with her about that."

Jodie nodded. "Right, sorry," she said, stepping out of Liara's way. "Maybe we'll get a chance to talk a little more soon?"

"I think we should," said Liara. "I'll see you around, I hope."

"You will," said Jodie as Liara stepped into the elevator. "You will, trust me."

And with this, Liara pressed the call button, the elevator doors closing behind her.

* * *

Jodie had very few other people to talk to at that point, so she settled for chowing down on an energy bar in the mess hall. She watched the other people on the ground team walk by. Most of them ignored her, and every so often she saw someone nod at her. She'd nod back, knowing it would be disrespectful to do otherwise. It all contributed to a sense of quiet that not even Aiden felt like ruining at any point.

And for that, Jodie was grateful. After all, she-

Her omni-tool then beeped rather loudly. Jodie blinked, looking at her left hand. An indication of a pair of received messages appeared there, and she blinked in surprise when the number two appeared there. She paused, wondering why she had not heard the first indication, before remembering that she had silenced her omni-tool while dealing with the L2s.

 _I must've gotten it then,_  she thought.  _How did I not notice there was a new message earlier?_

Jodie shook her head, opening her omni-tool quickly. She opened the first of the two messages, surprised at how brief it looked from just a short little preview. When she saw the sender, though, she jumped back in surprise.

 _Xerxes?_  she thought, looking in bewilderment at Xerxes' name.  _It took him_ this  _long to message me?_

She shook her head as Aiden let out an amused chortle. She let out a sigh, giving a small smile as she set the energy bar down on the table. She then opened the message and began to read it.

" _Hello_ _Jodie,_

_Hey, it's been a while, hasn't it? I'm sorry for the lack of interesting conversation topics lately. A lot has been going on, and I also hear that you were conscripted to the Normandy. A little bird told me about it... You probably saw her before now._

_Anyway, I don't really have much to say. I'm just checking in, making sure you're all right. What's it like on the Normandy? I'll admit to being a touch curious as to what it is like to be on an Alliance prototype, I have to say..._

_Anyway, that's all. Reply to me when you get a chance. I know you're probably really busy taking down Saren and all that, so just get back to me at your own pace. And stay safe._

_Yours,_

_Xerxes._ "

Jodie nodded, closing Xerxes' message. She smiled fondly, looking up at Aiden.

 _We should probably write back to him soon,_  she said.  _I mean, not right now, but soon. We kind of owe it to him after everything he's done for us so far, right?_

Aiden hesitated for a few seconds, Jodie frowning at the silence. After that time passed, however, Aiden clicked at a rather high pitch, though it was fainter than Jodie was accustomed to.

Jodie shook her head, rolling her eyes.  _Party pooper,_  she thought, gesturing at Aiden. She then turned her attention back to her message client, and looked at the next message. She then smiled very warmly, opening the message in question as she began reading it.

" _Jodie,_

_It would not be the first correspondence of this kind I have taken on. Some of my close friends from before my Pilgrimage do still ask after me and how my Pilgrimage is going. I suppose I cannot blame them: I have been away from the fleet substantially longer than most, truthfully. Nevertheless, I tell them I am working on it. They trust me, and that is enough for myself I suppose._

_I wonder how you have not had this kind of correspondence before. I thought such a thing to be more common with humans. Admittedly, you are a special case in this regard, but I would think that someone as caring as you would have partaken in this kind of correspondence before now. I guess I should not pry if it relates to your secret, but I cannot help but wonder why this is your first correspondence of this type._

_Hm... I suppose the quiet music could help, though I do have trouble finding the correct balance of volume. You do not understand: sometimes, the background noise on the Fleet would be a little loud depending on which ship you were living on. My ship was somewhat between the two extremes... Perhaps I can just find prerecorded ship sounds instead? It would be similar to a slice of home on the Citadel, now that I think of it... And wait, you sleep in silence but your parent figures would sometimes put music on for you? I read a kind of contradiction in there..._

_... Wait, Jodie, did you say Tali? Her full name would not happen to be Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, would it? I would think this would incur something..._ interesting  _if it is. So please do not hesitate to answer that. I will tell you why I ask in my reply._

_As for Saren... that may be true, Jodie, but you can never be too careful. I would be extremely careful if you ever meet him, Jodie. He is a Spectre, and you are only someone who has been caught up in something bigger than yourself. Just... promise me you will be careful. Please._

_Matriarch Benezia... The asari in league with Saren? Her connection to Saren was announced on the news today. I wonder how the asari representatives in the government are taking the news. This must be strange for them to deal with. I am surprised Benezia has a daughter that is not in line with what she feels, though. I wonder how that must feel for her. I suppose it is good you have found someone in a similar boat as you, however. I imagine that with whatever you have been through you could use a kindred spirit._

_I am glad to have received this message, Jodie. Be careful out there, and be sure to let me know when you are on the Citadel next._

_Keelah se'lai,_

_Kalo'Veera._

_P.S. "Keelah se'lai" is a traditional quarian greeting. I believe it is invoking the name of our ancestors, though please do not quote me on this. You can ask Tali for clarification if you wish._ "

Jodie smiled, looking back at the elevator as she closed Kalo's message.

 _And there's another one I'll have to reply to,_  Jodie thought.  _I just wonder how he's doing there... I hope he's okay too..._

She then looked up.  _And on that note, I wonder when we're going to visit the Citadel again..._  She looked up at where she assumed Aiden was.  _You think that'll come soon?_

Aiden simply gurgled in reply. Jodie nodded, leaning forward.  _Yeah, I hope so_ , she thought...

She paused, and then looked at her unfinished energy bar. She quickly grabbed it and began eating it again, looking straight ahead.

_I wonder where Tali is right now..._

* * *

Jodie stepped into engineering, and sure enough there was Tali working at one of the terminals. Jodie nodded to Engineer Adams as she stepped into the engine room, and Jodie made a beeline straight for Tali. The quarian glanced over her shoulder, and then turned as soon as Jodie got close.

"Oh, hello Jodie," said Tali. "What can I do for you?"

Jodie shrugged. "I just wanted to talk a little," she said. "How've things been going for you so far?"

"Well, it's a little... quiet..." she said. "It's a little difficult to sleep at night. I mean, on the Fleet, quiet usually means-"

"-that something's wrong," said Jodie. "Because all the ships are old."

Tali tilted her head to the side, her hands curling up. "How did you know that?" she asked.

"You can ask my quarian friend about that," said Jodie. "I met a quarian before I ever bumped into you. He's still on his Pilgrimage."

"Oh," said Tali, leaning back. "I see..." She shook her head, chuckling nervously. "You should have introduced me!"

"Yeah, I probably should have," said Jodie, who chuckled nervously. "Sorry. I just received a message from him, actually."

"So you have been keeping in touch, then?" Tali asked. She crossed her arms. "I guess that's good."

"Yeah," Jodie said. "I told him about you, actually. I actually mentioned some things about who you were... And when I dropped your first name, he asked me about the rest of it."

Tali blinked. "He did?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Jodie. "He didn't tell me why he asked, though, so... I'm wondering if you know why he'd bring it up?"

"Hm..." Tali rubbed her chin. "It must be because of my father, then."

Jodie blinked. "Your father?" she asked. He's not some kind of criminal, is he?"

" _Keelah,_ no," said Tali, jumping back. "I probably would not be here if that were the case." She shook her head. "No, my father..." She paused, glancing to the side. "How much do you know about quarian government?"

"Not a whole lot, I have to admit," said Jodie. "Well, except that ship captains are of extreme importance, that is." She then looked at Tali. "I'm going to guess that your father is a captain of an important ship?"

"Not necessarily," said Tali. "The Fleet's command structure is based on ship captains, but you have to remember there needs to be a central command structure. So in the Fleet, we have five Admirals that make the decisions for us."

Jodie blinked, and then looked at Tali with slowly widening eyes. "So your father..." she said.

"...is one of the admirals," Tali finished.

"Oh..." Jodie looked down at the ground, her jaw slackening a little. "Oh my God!" She then looked over at Tali. "I... I never even  _knew_..."

"You never asked," said Tali. "Though I suppose I didn't mention it either, now that I think about it... I guess that makes us about even?"

"It probably does," Jodie admitted. She chuckled nervously. "Wow, so your father's an admiral..."

"Yes," said Tali. She then looked at Jodie. "Actually, that is one reason my pilgrimage may take longer than usual. There is added pressure on me to bring something back that will change the fate of the Fleet. As the Admiral's daughter..."

Jodie frowned. "Isn't that a lot of pressure to put on you?" she asked.

"I can handle it," said Tali. "After all, I have Shepard to help, and I have some good friends as well. And when I first left, I was accompanied by others..." She paused for a second, and Jodie noticed that Tali swallowed before she continued. "I think that would be enough, no?"

"I guess, but I still think it's a lot of pressure to put on someone when they're already leaving the only place they've called home, and especially when they're doing it alone," Jodie said, her brows furrowed even futher. "That just doesn't sit well with me, Tali. What if you hadn't been sent with company? What if Shepard hadn't come along? What then?"

"Then I would still have to look for it," Tali replied. "I would just do whatever it took."

Jodie sighed. "I guess that's fair enough," she said. She looked up. "I just hope you would've been able to handle it."

"You underestimate my people, Jodie," Tali replied. "We're a very resourceful bunch."

"It seems like it, I guess," Jodie said. "Your ships are old, right?"

"They are," said Tali. "In fact, we still have some ships in the Fleet that are as old as the Fleet itself."

Jodie perked one of her eyebrows. "Really now?" she asked, her voice going at a slightly higher pitch. "How do you maintain a ship for three hundred years with very little supplies?"

"As I said, we're a very resourceful bunch," said Tali. "In fact..."

* * *

Jodie stepped outside of the engineering room after a rather lengthy conversation with Tali. As she did, she let out a sigh, rubbing the back of her neck with a content expression on her face. It had been a good conversation with Tali, as she had expected. And even better, she had a slew of new things to tell Kalo about her.

She sighed, looking over to the elevator and walking over to the call button. As she walked over to it, though, the elevator door opened. Jodie continued on, but a deep chuckle caused her to pause where she was standing.

"Heh. Looks like the runt went to go talk with the quarian again."

Jodie looked up to see Wrex walk right out of the elevator, sparing Jodie a little look. Jodie could not quite read it, as it settled somewhere between indifference and scorn. Jodie herself felt that it leaned more towards indifference, which she would not mind quite as much.

"Um... yeah," said Jodie. "Why do you care so much?"

"I don't," Wrex shrugged, walking away from the elevator.

Jodie paused, crossing her arms as she watched Wrex walk by. "Is there something you want to say to me?" she asked.

The large krogan paused, his foot coming to a halt right as it was about to move forward. Jodie saw his head turn slightly, and she knew from the way his head was turned that he was regarding her. She was certain it was with some kind of disdain, and yet the way his hands remained relaxed told Jodie otherwise.

After a few seconds of complete silence, Wrex turned around, taking a couple of steps towards Jodie. He did not quite approach, but from the distance he was at he still remained somewhat intimidating. Jodie remained stone-faced against this, knowing not to show too many signs of weakness against a krogan.

"Are you deaf as well as a runt?" he asked. "I already told you, this galaxy isn't a pretty place."

Jodie shook her head, walking over to the krogan. "I heard you perfectly clear back on the Citadel," Jodie replied. "But trust me, I know."

"You sure about that?" he asked. "'Cause I'd expect most people leaving their sheltered lives on the homeworld for the first time to not expect how harsh this place is."

Jodie simply frowned. "If you knew half the shit I went through before I got to this point, you wouldn't be saying that," said Jodie. "Trust me, you think life on Earth was easy?"

"I'll bet it wasn't as hard as life on Tuchanka," said Wrex. "Nothing beats that old rock."

"Probably not," said Jodie. "But trust me, I'm not expecting this place to be full of... well..." She paused, glancing to the side. After a second, she shrugged, giving Wrex a somewhat helpless expression. "Cake?"

Wrex turned to her, blinking once as his slit-like pupils widened in confusion. "Cake?" he asked.

"It's a human food," Jodie explained. "A very sweet one, actually. And..." She then let out a nervous chuckle, rubbing her upper arm. "Well, a lot of people like it. It tastes good."

"Hmph." Wrex' original indifferent expression took hold. "Good." He huffed, and then rolled his shoulders around. "I just hope you can handle yourself. You look like you could be snapped in half."

Jodie shook her head. "Trust me, I can handle myself," she replied. "I'm short, but that doesn't mean I can't defend myself." _  
_

Wrex snorted. "We'll find out soon enough," said Wrex. "I heard good things about your last op, but running around in the shadows is no style of fight. I'll wait and see how you do in a real fight."

With this, Wrex walked over to where he usually stood. Jodie did not follow, looking at the krogan with her brows slightly furrowed. She then shook her head, walking back to the elevator. As she did, she looked up upon hearing Aiden trill rather loudly. Jodie then thought she heard Aiden's variety of a raspberry, and at his Jodie could not suppress a laugh.

 _Yeah, he is pretty uptight, isn't he?_  she asked.  _Still... he probably had a tough life too. I mean... that scar on his head is big, Aiden. You don't get scars like that from stuff._

Aiden trilled again, to which Jodie sighed.  _Yeah, that might be true,_  Jodie thought.  _Still, though, even if he is concerned-and I doubt that, because he's a warrior from a warrior culture-he underestimates me. I think he'll find out soon enough just how big a mistake that is..._

She shrugged.  _Ah well, back to the crew deck, I guess,_ she thought.  _After all, I do still have to write messages to Xerxes and Kalo_.

And with this, Jodie hit the call button, the elevator doors opening immediately. Jodie stepped inside, pressed the button for the crew deck, and then leaned against the wall as the doors closed.

* * *

"-ell, commander, you just can't be too sure about that kind of thing."

Jodie stepped out of the elevator, glancing over at Kaidan and Shepard. Kaidan was animatedly gesturing, while Shepard sat perfectly still. Jodie blinked at the two of them, walking towards the table.

As she walked to the table, though, Kaidan tilted his head, and caught sight of Jodie. He lifted his head up, before raising his hand. "Oh, Jodie," said Kaidan. "Hello!"

Jodie paused, looking at the biotic in surprise. "Oh, Kaidan," she said. "Is something up?"

"Well, I wanted your opinion on something," said Kaidan.

Shepard turned around, looking right at her. Jodie thought she saw the tail end of Shepard rolling his eyes in some kind of derision, but nevertheless his attention turned to her. "What do you think about fraternization rules?" asked Shepard.

"Fraternization?" Jodie asked. She walked over, slowly taking a seat in the chair. "Um... I'm not sure how the fraternization rules in the Alliance are supposed to work."

"Ah." Kaidan leaned back. "In the Alliance, it's not allowed for commanding officers to fraternize with people below them in ranking."

"Oh." Jodie facepalmed, and mentally berated herself for not catching on to what it would mean sooner. "Of course." She shook her head, and then looked up at the ceiling. "Um... I don't really have an opinion on fraternization regs."  _At least, I don't_ think  _I have..._

"Hm," said Kaidan. He then indicated Shepard. "He thinks they should just be done away with."

"Of course," said Shepard. "Honestly, why would anyone pay attention to those things? If two people fall in love, why should rank get in the way of that?"

"Commander, if you had to make a decision, you would want your head clear for that, right?" asked Kaidan.

"Well, yes," said the Commander.

"And having that decision be about that person being fraternized with could cloud your judgment, right?"

Shepard paused. "I guess it could," said Shepard. "But what if the decision is not that vital? What if-?"

"Well, you don't know until you're in the heat of battle, right?" Jodie asked as she leaned in. "And don't those kinds of situations normally come up out of nowhere?"

Kaidan nodded. "Exactly my point," he said. "You don't know when that kind of situation is going to come up, Shepard. And when it does come up, what do you do then?"

Shepard paused, looking down at the ground. "Perhaps," he said. "Though I still think that such love shouldn't be barred." He then looked up. "After all, is it wrong if that fraternization happens with a lower-rank soldier from another unit?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Well, Kaidan, there we are," said Shepard.

"But that's not the point," Jodie chimed in immediately. "That lower-ranked soldier wouldn't be in that commanding officer's chain of command, so it's not that officer's responsibility to make decisions based around that lower-ranked soldier."

"The point is that the chain of command can be upset if you're allowed to fraternize with people you command," said Kaidan. "And to prevent that, that's why the fraternization rules are in place."

"And would the decisions be any less difficult if a loved one were not involved?" Shepard asked.

Kaidan and Jodie shot each other glances as they considered this. They then looked back at Shepard as he shifted his posture. "The point is, we are talking about the officer's judgement being clouded. If we accept that the decision is difficult no matter what, then why would clouded judgement be an issue? I don't see any issue with fraternization."

He then stood up. "I'm sorry to have to cut this debate short, but I have to take care of some business," Shepard said. "I'll be in the captain's quarters if you need me."

And with this, Shepard stood up and walked away. Jodie noticed that his gait was rather hurried, and that there was some fairly visible tension in his shoulders. Before Jodie could assess anything else, Shepard disappeared into the door to the captain's quarters, leaving Jodie and Kaidan to look at each other in confusion. Jodie drummed her fingers on the table, glancing back at where Shepard had walked away.

"Well, I don't know about you, but it seems to me like Shepard was trying to end the argument before we could come up with our counterargument there," Jodie said.

"Yeah, it seems that way to me too," he said. "There's an obvious answer to that question that he's not considering."

"Trust me, I know," said Jodie. She then bodily turned towards Kaidan. "How did that come up in the first place?"

"I overheard some people talking about Ashley and Shepard spending quite a bit of time," Kaidan said. "I wanted his word to confirm if he was." He shook his head. "And then he told me to be aware that he doesn't recognize the Alliance's fraternization rules. I don't know why he would do that since he told me there was nothing occurring between them, but he did it anyway."

"Huh," said Jodie. She shook her head. "Well, he is a Spectre, so I guess he is above Alliance regulations to some extent."

"Maybe," said Kaidan. "But that debate came from me trying to remind him why the regs are there."

"I think he could still use the reminder," Jodie said. Her thoughts then turned again to her past, and she sighed as she rested her elbow on the table. "Though... I can't say I find his point about the difficulty of the decisions to be that faulty." She then glanced up at Aiden knowingly before looking ahead of her. "I once knew someone who put his agency over his relationship with his own underling."

"Really?" asked Kaidan. "I wasn't aware there were people with that kind of integrity towards their position."

Jodie gave Kaidan a withering look, and then pushed herself to an upright seated position. "I wouldn't call it 'integrity', Kaidan," Jodie said, her voice cold and hard. "I would call it 'blind following'." She shook her head, before looking at Kaidan. Her original mood returned. "Sorry, I shouldn't bring that into this. It'll just dampen the mood."

Kaidan nodded, giving Jodie a calm, serene look before shifting his posture. "I guess there's no problem," he said. "You want to talk about something else?"

"Well, as much as I'd like to right now, I'm afraid I'll have to pass on that," said Jodie. "I've got a couple messages I need to write to the friends I managed to make on the Citadel before I got on here."

"Oh." Kaidan nodded, standing up. "Sorry. I'll give you some space."

Jodie smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Kaidan," she said as she opened her omni-tool. "Maybe we can talk later."

"Sure," said Kaidan. He then glanced back to the elevator. "I wanted to talk to Ashley, anyway."

"Go ahead," said Jodie.

Kaidan nodded, and then walked past the table and Jodie to the elevators. "Thanks," he said. "I'll see you around."

"Yeah," said Jodie. "See you around."

With this, Kaidan walked over to the elevators, and pressed the call button. Jodie turned back to the omni-tool, opening the messenger client and looking at Kalo'Veera's message where it remained opened. She nodded, and then scrolled down to the blank text box. She tapped the holographic interface once, and then began typing.

* * *

_Hm... I think that might do it._

Aiden chirped in the affirmative, and with that Jodie looked back at her omni-tool.  _Well, Aiden, I finally have a constant pen-pal. So it's a good thing that I'm like this. Trust me._ _  
_

Aiden said nothing, and Jodie found the silence comforting in some way. With this, her attention turned to the message. She looked it over, her hand sometimes entering the message and cleaning up a typo here, some missed punctuation there, adjusting some words there... When she was done with this, she leaned forward, a smile coming to her face. She then idly read through the message again to be sure said everything she had wanted to say.

" _Kalo,_

_I guess that's good. I've never really had much interaction with people my age, so that's why I haven't really gotten into this sort of thing. I do have to say, though, this is making me wonder why I never tried to get into that as a younger person. Then again, my life then was very complicated, so... It's a very long story, and it's kind of tied in to the secret you know I have. Again, it's changed the way people look at me._

_Hm... You're right about the contradiction, actually. I guess the main thing is that I'm a rather light sleeper. I had some bad times trying to sleep as a child. If I hear odd sounds, I tend to wake up very easily. Nathan and Cole tried to soothe me to sleep a couple of times, but I was never in the best shape the next morning. Still, there were some things that did help me sleep. Classic rock happened to put me to sleep once, but it was inconsistent which ones. Eventually, they just tried complete silence, and... well, that worked, so yeah. But no, some of it did help..._

_Now if only I knew what would work for you... What sorts of things do you listen to?_

_Yes, her name is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. I asked her about it, and she told me the whole thing. I didn't think... I actually saved an admiral's daughter. I'm honestly not sure how to feel about that. I still feel like I did the right thing, Kalo, but I'm not sure... I mean, Tali's really nice._

_I guess... I guess I have a question about the admirals that I didn't think to ask Tali at any point. How..._ transparent  _are the admirals whenever they want to do something? I know it sounds like a weird question, but... I guess coming from where I do, I have to ask that sort of thing. It's... part of my secret actually. I think on this point, I'll go ahead and tell you a little more if you're curious. I trust your judgment on them... I really do..._

_All right, I'll be careful around Saren. I promise._

_I suppose Liara could use the company. I encountered her in the elevator today, actually. I think I could get on rather well with her, actually._

_Actually, I'm getting along pretty well with everyone on this ship. I thought I was going to be an outcast, but... apparently, I've found a group of people with just as many problems as I have. I still find it a little hard to believe that there are a group of people like that, but there it is. I'm starting to get along with them rather well. And... I don't know, but I feel like I've found a place I belong for the first time in a long time..._

_I went on my first field op earlier today. Had to deal with a few biotic terrorists who had taken a chairman hostage. Turns out they just wanted some reparations: they were some of the L2 biotics that you hear about with all the health issues. We managed to negotiate something, but I get the feeling that Shepard doesn't expect that chairman to stick to his word. I don't know. I think the chairman is trustworthy, but I guess we'll see._

_I do hope you stay safe out in the Citadel. Let me know if you need anything._

_-Jodie._

_P.S. Ah, so it's sort of like how "God" works for humans. Okay, I guess that makes sense._ "

As soon as she finished rereading it, she nodded, and then quickly tapped the 'send' button.

She then turned up to look at Aiden, a smile coming to her face. "Well, there we go," she said aloud. "I wonder what Kalo will say..."

Jodie tapped her fingers as Aiden gurgled in reply.  _I guess we'll have to hope for that soon,_  Jodie though.  _I hope he's okay out there..._ She then looked up at Aiden.  _It's been a long day. Maybe we should try to get some rest, yeah?_

Aiden chirped in the affirmative. Jodie smiled, and then she stood up and walked over to where the sleeper pods were.


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry for the long wait for an update! Between IRL giving me a tough time and a bout of ill-timed writer's block... well, I had a tough time with this chapter. Even more so since I was originally going to make it into a much longer chapter.
> 
> But nevertheless, it is now being split into two parts. And because of that... well, you have this here.
> 
> So here's the next chapter. Hope you guys enjoy!

When Jodie woke up, she was in pretty good spirits. In fact, she had been in such good spirits that she had decided to take a walk around the ship immediately after waking up. There were a few technicians up and Joker was still awake, but otherwise it was rather quiet. The sight of a slightly less busy Normandy was not terribly eventful for Jodie nor did she get any great epiphany from it, but the silence was still rather nice.

And it remained rather nice as she leisurely chewed on an energy bar. She found it odd that she had gotten so used to voluntarily dieting on various kinds of bars, but she found that they actually did a pretty good job of keeping her full. They were larger than she was used to from energy bars, so she assumed that it was some thing about energy bars in the future. But either way, she found she enjoyed them immensely. They were certainly better than the instant rations they sometimes got.

She smiled, slowly taking a bite out of the energy bar and chewing it slowly.

And that, of course, was when Aiden whooshed rather loudly.

Jodie frowned, looking at the space above her.  _What is it, Aiden?_  she thought.

Aiden gurgled somewhat, a sound which was followed by some silence.

Then, her omni-tool opened. Jodie nearly dropped her energy bar in surprise, and her gaze immediately turned to her surroundings. She took a few breaths in, noting that thankfully, nobody was near where she was, before shaking her head and looking up.

"Aiden!" Jodie whispered. "Be careful about that!"

Aiden only clicked in response, which left Jodie to shake her head, her frown only furrowing at his reply.  _You could've blown our cover,_  Jodie thought.  _I let it slide with the biotics because nobody was watching, but right now..._ _You need to be careful about things like that, Aiden!_ _  
_

The entity clicked in protest, which Jodie only responded to by shaking her head. She looked at her open omni-tool. Her eyes settled upon some text, text which was likely left behind by Aiden. She squinted, and then her eyes widened slightly upon reading what Aiden had written down.

" _I don't trust Shepard_ "

Jodie sighed, looking up at Aiden while shaking her head. "And why would you say that?" Jodie whispered. "He's..." She paused. "Well, he's not the most intelligent person I have ever met, but why should we not trust him?"

Jodie heard Aiden click a couple of times, and then she felt her omni-tool shake. When she looked down, there was new text written down, right under where the first piece of text was.

" _Language he speaks isn't English or anything like the English I've heard from Ashley and Kaidan can't tell what it is sounds unnatural_ "

Jodie sighed, closing her omni-tool and rubbing her temples. "There are languages we haven't heard, you know," she supplied. "Maybe it's some Scandinavian language or something. I don't know."

Aiden whooshed with a rather low tone. Jodie shook her head, now outright facepalming. "Aiden, it doesn't matter if you don't get the effects of my translator," she replied. "You can't just go around profiling people because they speak a language you're not familiar with. That's..." She chuckled darkly. "That's kind of ethnocentrist, actually."

The entity immediately let out a guilty-sounding little gurgle, before he then went quiet. Jodie nodded.  _There you go,_  she thought.  _Trust me, Aiden, I doubt that Shepard being a non-English speaker is any indication that he's a threat. Trust me, he's trying to stop Saren. I don't trust him completely, but I can at least trust his command for now. Got that?_

Aiden let out a sound similar to a sigh, and this was enough for Jodie. She closed the word processor and then closed the omni-tool, shaking her head.  _Seriously, Aiden, you don't have to be so protective_ , she thought as she grabbed the energy bar. She looked at it, and then back at the table, before sighing and standing up.

As she began to walk towards the disposal bin, however, she heard the elevator door open. Standing there was Shepard, who nodded at her.

"Ah, Miss Holmes," said Shepard. "I've been looking for you."

Jodie blinked. "Let me guess," she said. "I'm going groundside soon, sir?"

Shepard nodded. "Suit up and meet by Joker's work station," he said. "We're docking this time."

"All right," said Jodie. "Where at, sir?"

Shepard looked up. "Noveria," he replied. "And remember to seal your suit up. Noveria is a very,  _very_ cold place."

Jodie nodded. "Will do, sir."

* * *

Jodie had suited up pretty quickly after being given the order by Shepard, and she made her way up to the cockpit. Upon arriving, she blinked upon seeing Liara and Wrex standing by Joker's chair.

Wrex's eyes immediately narrowed slightly. "Oh. It's the runt again." He let out a snort. "I can't wait to see how  _this_ turns out."

"Hey, don't underestimate the small ones!" Joker said, turning his chair to look up at the krogan. "You never know which ones can kick the most ass."

"Yeah, I'm with Joker on that," said Jodie as she walked up to them. "I feel like a broken record here, but trust me Wrex, I've got this."

"We'll see," said Wrex. He then turned his gaze at Liara. "Well, we also have the asari here. The biotics would be useful, but can you shoot a gun?"

"I can handle myself in a fight," Liara replied. She then looked at the floor, her shoulders dropping. "Though, I worry about what we will find on Noveria."

"Matriarch Benezia was supposed to be on Noveria, right?" asked Joker, gesturing slowly.

"Yes," said Liara. She looked down at the ground, her eyes downcast and her shoulders slumping a little. "I don't know why my mother would ally herself with Saren."

Jodie looked over at Liara. "You know, you shouldn't have to come," she said. "If you're worried about her, then-"

"No, it's all right." Liara looked up at Jodie. "If nothing else, I can get some answers. I haven't spoken to her in years, and I guess that... well..." Liara swallowed. "Even if it's not the best of circumstances, I'll be able to see her again. There's that, if nothing else."

"Well, we don't know if she's here for sure," said Joker. He then turned to Liara, adjusting his cap and giving her a serious look. "But if she's there, you realize we'll have to kill her if we can't apprehend her, right?"

The asari looked up at the ceiling, an uncertain look flashing across her features before she nodded. "I know," she said, her voice sounding a little restrained. "I know, and I also know that she may be a threat to galactic security. If it comes down to that, I won't stop him."

"That's all we'll need, then," said Wrex.

Jodie nodded. "I hope you're right," she said. She then looked ahead. "So we go in, apprehend Benezia, and get out?"

"And deal with whatever else shows up on the way," said Joker. He then looked behind Jodie, nodding as his chair turned around. "And speaking of which..."

Jodie turned behind her to look at Shepard as he walked up to the cockpit. Shepard glanced at Liara once, before nodding at her as he took his place by Joker. "How close are we?" he asked.

"We're in range to request permission to dock, sir," said Joker. "You want to ask yourself? I'm sure I could break the  _ice_  with something..."

Jodie and Wrex cracked a smile upon hearing Joker's bad pun, and even Liara joined in as the look in her eyes brightened a little. Shepard, however, remained stone-faced, his gaze trained outside of the cockpit. "I have Spectre authority," said Shepard as he looked out the window. "I'll handle it."

Joker shrugged. "Sure thing, Commander."

Shepard nodded, a small scowl forming on his face. "I've heard this place is inhabited by scoundrels," said Shepard.

"Well, you wouldn't be wrong," Wrex said. "I used to work for some of them as a mercenary. Greedy bastards, all of them."

"Wouldn't surprise me," said Shepard as he crossed his arms. "I've heard lots of things about this place. Skirting the law for profit..." He snorted in derision. "Greedy bastards, indeed."

"Well, you'd at least call it a hive of scum and villainy, right?" asked Joker.

Shepard glanced at Joker, his eyes narrowing slightly. As soon as Jodie saw it, though, Shepard looked back out of the cockpit. "Open the comm line," he said. Jodie thought she heard something steely in his tone, but exactly what it was was something she could not place.

Joker shook his head, rolling his eyes. "Opening the comm link," he said, looking ahead.

Jodie glanced at Shepard, before turning her attention to the opening of the cockpit. When she glanced again, she faintly noticed Shepard uncurl his hand, as if it had been bunched into a fist mere milliseconds earlier. Jodie's gaze was trained on this hand for a few seconds more, and then she turned her attention to the outside of the cockpit just as whoever was on the other end of the comm line responded.

* * *

When Jodie and the others stepped off of the ship, they were immediately greeted by one set of very unamused guards. They stood there, their arms crossed.

Immediately, the leader of the group held her hand up. Her cold steel-grey eyes were furrowed, and her black hair did nothing to assuage the menacing look this guard gave them. "That's far enough," she said, her tone cutting.

Shepard looked at the guards, holding his hands up. "We're not here to cause any trouble," he said.

"This is an unscheduled arrival," the leader of the guards said. "We need authorization."

Shepard nodded. "I'm a Spectre," he said. "My name is Shepard."

"Load of horse crap, ma'am." The blonde woman standing next to the lead security guard leered at Shepard. Jodie frowned as she looked at the blonde one, eyeing her with some amount of suspicion.

The leader of the guards shifted her foot slightly, though she did not give any other indication that what her subordinate had said had affected her. "W-we will need to confirm that," she said. "Also, I must advise you that firearms are not permitted on Noveria." She then nodded to her subordinate. "Sergeant Sterling, secure their weapons."

Right when the blonde subordinate had taken her first step towards them, Shepard drew his pistol. Jodie blinked in surprise, noticing the annoyed scowl that had taken form on Shepard's face. Before she could say much else, however, she heard another click behind her and turned just in time to see Wrex draw his shotgun.

"We haven't got the time for this," said Shepard. "We'll be keeping our weapons. Besides, I heard somewhere that Spectres were allowed to keep their weapons on Noveria."

"Which would be true if you  _were_ a Spectre," said the blonde. "There's no human Spectre."

"Huh," said Shepard. "I didn't know my whole ceremony was faked." He then turned to look at Jodie. "There were cameras, right?"

"I think there were," said Jodie.

Shepard nodded. "Exactly," he said, turning his attention back to the blonde. "It's not my fault someone doesn't watch the news."

This caused the blonde woman to take a few steps forward. "I don't think you-!"

" _Captain Matsuo, stand down!_ " A female voice came over the intercom, effectively interrupting the security officer. " _We confirmed their identity. Spectres **are**  authorized to carry weapons, Captain._" _  
_

The leader of the group looked up, her facial expression softening slightly. She then nodded to Shepard. "Very well, then," she said. "You may proceed, Spectre. Parasini-san will be upstairs. I'll warn you not to cause any trouble."

"The only way that'll happen is if you come at me," said Shepard as he holstered his pistol. "Stay out of my way, and you'll be all right."

The blonde narrowed her eyes at her. Jodie glanced at Shepard, and for a second, she found herself sharing that guard's sentiment. The blonde guard said something, but Jodie did not quite catch it as she followed Shepard out to meet... whoever this 'Parasini' person was.

As she did, she found herself walking close to Liara. "What was that about?" asked Jodie.

"I don't know," said Liara. "Did it seem a little more...  _forceful_ than necessary?"

"I was about to say the same thing," Jodie replied. She shook her head, crossing her arms. "I guess we'll have to hope he won't do the same thing to everyone else he encounters."

"I guess we will," Liara replied.

Jodie looked ahead, and as Aiden clicked once in wonder Jodie fell into step behind Shepard as he took his first steps into Noveria's security checkpoint.

* * *

Gianna Parasini had actually been rather polite to them, which was something that Jodie had not expected given the greeting they got. Gianna pointed them in the direction of a salarian administrator, saying he would be the one to talk to to get the garage pass. They had to go through a little walking, so it had taken about a minute to get to Anoleis' office.

So when Jodie found herself looking at the blue-hued salarian, she immediately felt an inexplicable dislike for him. She was not certain if it was the way he leered at them or the way his hands looked like they were one motion away from waving dismissively at all of them. Either way, something about him immediately rubbed Jodie the wrong way.

And then Anoleis opened his mouth.

"You will excuse me if I don't stand up. I don't have time to entertain colonial rubes."

Jodie's fist clenched, and when she looked to the side, she saw that Shepard did the same thing.  _Great_ , Jodie thought.  _Another obstructive person in a position of power. Just what I needed to see here_ _._ _  
_

Shepard, for his part, uncrossed his arms immediately. "I'm here as a Spectre, not a human," he replied. "Keep that in mind."

"Believe me, that is foremost in my mind," Anoleis replied. "This greeting is a courtesy." Jodie's eyes narrowed, but Anoleis paid her no attention. "I will only cooperate as required by the Executive Board. Businesses come here to avoid the second-guessing of galactic law." _  
_

"And I assume that said second-guessing of the law involves allowing someone who was recently declared an enemy of the Council to stop by here?" Shepard asked.

"If it did, it wouldn't matter," said Anoleis. "I won't allow you to harass our clients."

Shepard shook his head. "I heard there was an asari Matriarch here," he said. "I need to see her. Now."

"Matriarch Benezia, no?" Anoleis asked. "She is currently on Peak 15. You cannot access her, though, as all surface access to Peak 15 is cut off due to a blizzard."

"So we drive there," said Shepard.

"No," said Anoleis, his neck tensing in obvious annoyance. "Surface access is cut off due to a blizzard. You wouldn't be able to get across anyway."

"Obviously you've never seen Shepard drive," Wrex commented.

Anoleis narrowed his eyes at Wrex briefly. The krogan returned the narrowed gaze, before Anoleis turned his attention back to Shepard. "Not even good drivers could get through this blizzard if they were riding a tank," said Anoleis.

Wrex looked at Shepard. "Actually, he's a crazy driver," he said. "I'm pretty sure you can't stop him."

"I can, and I'm doing it now," said Anoleis, his eyes only narrowing further. Wrex stepped forward, but Liara immediately threw her arm out. Even as the krogan's leer was redirected to Liara, Anoleis simply coughed. "To get to Peak 15, you need a garage pass. As there is a blizzard outside, I will not authorize any more garage passes. You simpletons can wait until the blizzard ends." The salarian then looked down at his terminal's projection before looking back at Shepard. "Now, if that is all, I would appreciate all of you getting out of my office."

Shepard frowned, and Jodie noticed that his curled-up fists were glowing a very, very faint blue. Shepard took a deep breath, though, and then the blue hue disappeared.

"I have no more questions," said Shepard.

"Good," said Anoleis. "I received a dozen urgent messages while you dithered about. Who knows what kind of profit I lost because of your blathering?"

Shepard nodded, and then turned on his heel very quickly. He then walked out, his body somewhat tense. Jodie, Liara, and Wrex followed shortly afterwards, the three of them walking out of Anoleis' office.

Liara immediately walked up to Shepard. "Are you all right?" she asked.

Shepard just glared back at Anoleis' door as the group rounded the decorative wall directly in front of the administrator's office. "I forgot how I like my administrators," he said. "In case you're wondering, I like them medium rare."

Wrex chuckled. "I'd just eat them raw," he said.

Liara shook her head. "I'm sure there is someone else willing to help us get what we need," she said. "We may not have to go through the administator."

Shepard sighed. "Well, if this one was that obstructive, how do you think the others will be?" asked Shepard as they passed Gianna Parasini's desk. "I'm half-tempted to just brave the blizzard."

"Anoleis isn't the only one with the pass required to leave Port Hanshan, you know."

All four of them stopped where they were, their attention turned to Gianna Parasini. She had stood up, her dark complexion standing in stark contrast to her pink dress. Shepard turned to Gianna, his head tilted to the side in curiosity.

"He isn't?" Shepard asked.

"You've never worked in the corporate world, have you, Shepard?" Gianna asked. "You can't bludgeon your way through bureaucracy."

Jodie sighed, crossing her arms. "That's kind of true," said Jodie. "But it doesn't stop it from being annoying."

Shepard sighed. "What do you know?"

Gianna then glanced over her shoulder, before leaning closer to Shepard. "Talk to Lorik Qui'in," she whispered. "You can likely find him at the hotel bar." She glanced over her shoulder again. "Can't say more. Not within earshot of Anoleis."

Shepard nodded, glancing behind her and instantly getting the hint. "I see," he said, raising his voice a little. "Well, I'll be sure to check it out. I might even get a postcard."

Jodie frowned. "They still sell those at spaceports?" she asked.

"You'd be surprised," said Liara.

"You really would," said Shepard. "Come on. We have a gift shop to visit."

Gianna let out a sigh of relief. "Have a pleasant day," she said.

Shepard briefly bowed his head to Gianna, and then he turned around and walked out of Anoleis' office. Jodie looked over at Shepard as she followed, walking up to him pretty quickly. "If it makes you feel any better, I thought he was annoying too," she said.

Shepard nodded. "Thanks," he said. "Hopefully, this Lorik Qui'in character won't be the same way."

"We'll see," said Wrex. "Sounds like a turian." He then snorted. "I wonder what sticks he's got up his ass today."

"Well, we'll find out soon enough," said Liara. "Let's talk to him, shall we?"

"Of course," said Shepard.

Jodie nodded, falling into step behind everyone else.

 _Well, Aiden here we go on a wild goose chase,_  she thought.  _Let's hope this guy is at least nicer than the last one._

* * *

"Afternoon. Sit down, have a drink. On me."

_Yes, definitely nicer than the last one._

Jodie glanced at the commander first, and then at the older turian who sat at the table. His white tattoo stood out against the browner plates of his face, and his gaze was actually considerably friendly. It also did not hurt that the turian was swirling some kind of martini in his hand, though she wondered if turian martinis naturally occurred in purple hues. As soon as she wondered about this, though, the turian took a very liesurely sip of his beverage.

In a way, the whole image almost reminded her of Xerxes. Well, that, and the fact that he was seated in some rather swanky-looking hotel. Jodie briefly wondered if this was some kind of preview for what the Presidium might look like. At the very least, this kind of relaxed setting was something she mentally pictured every time she talked to Xerxes. Long years had told her the mental image was probably untrue, but it was nevertheless one that appealed to Jodie.

 _I should make it a point to see him too when I'm on the Citadel,_  she thought.

Her attention was broken as soon as the turian set the glass down. She then turned to look at Shepard, whose arms were crossed.

Shepard nodded. "Are you Lorik Qui'in?" he asked. "I hear you might be able to help me."

The turian nodded. "You are the Spectre that just arrived, I assume," he said. "What can an old turian like me possibly help you with?"

"I'm trying to find a way into the garage," Shepard said.

"You need a pass," said Lorik. "How fortuitous." He shifted his posture slightly, looking up at Shepard. "I'm the manager of a local Synthetic Insights office. For the moment, at least. Mr. Anoleis closed my office. He claims to be investigating claims of my 'corruption'."

"Hmph," Wrex crossed his arms. "Looks like we both have a problem with that pyjack."

Lorik turned his attention to the krogan. "I assume you attempted to talk to Anoleis earlier?"

"Yeah," Jodie commented. " _That_ didn't yield anything. Mostly because of how obstructive he was."

"That would not surprise me. At the very least, I will say he is an  _interesting_ man," said Lorik. "He has become quite wealthy since he took direct control."

Shepard tilted his head to the side, rubbing his chin. "I sense a connection there," he said.

"Indeed," said Lorik. "I acquired evidence of Anoleis' actions. His tired goons are ransacking my office to find it."

"Let me guess," said Shepard. "You have a garage pass to spare if we find your evidence and keep it from being deleted."

"Yes," said Lorik. "And I imagine Mr. Anoleis would be disinclined to let you wander from here." He then looked up. "In addition, I would be willing to give a sum of credits for your time."

"Why didn't he cancel your pass cards?" Shepard asked.

"Why should he?" asked Lorik. "There's nothing outside but snow and hungry creatures." He then looked to the others. "I also trust you saw his adherence to procedure."

"We did, trust me," said Jodie, rubbing her head. "That was a little annoying."

"I would not mind so much if he also played loosely with certain procedure," Lorik added. "I will say you are not the only one annoyed, and I will leave it at that."

Shepard nodded his agreement. "Do you have a plan, then?" he asked.

"I do," Lorik replied, leaning over his knees. "However, there is one more... one..." He paused, leaning back. "Hm, what is that charming human expression...? Fly in the... lotion?"

Jodie snorted in amusement. "It's 'fly in the ointment'," she replied.

"Ah," Lorik replied. "Thank you." He shook his head. "I find humans to be a very curious species."

"No doubt," said Jodie, smiling as she put her hands behind her. "Anyway, what's the problem?"

Lorik nodded, leaning on the table as he cleared his throat. "Violence against Mr. Anoleis' thugs may be necessary. He has members of Hanshan's security team searching my office. He's paying them under the table, Miss Matsuo is unaware of their outside employment."

"Hm, I  _knew_ there was something I didn't like about one of them," said Wrex.

"If he's paying them under the table, they're technically mercenaries," said Shepard. "I can deal with mercenaries."

Jodie turned to Shepard, frowning as he said this. However, before Jodie could say anything more, Lorik spoke up.

"Excellent." The turian stood up, holding out a little key card to Shepard. "Here is the pass into our offices. It will activate the elevator." He then took out a small disc that Jodie recognized as an OSD. "The evidence is on my office computer. This OSD contains an encryption key to access it. Slide it into the drive and it will auto-execute."

Shepard took both of the objects, nodding at Lorik. "Thank you," he said. "I'll get that evidence to you soon."

Lorik nodded and sat down. "Be careful," he said.

Shepard nodded, and with that the conversation came to a stop. The group then turned, Jodie giving a polite nod to Lorik as they set off for the elevator that took them to the hotel.

"So... the Synthetic Insights office," said Liara. "I've never broken into an office before..."

"We're going in with the manager's permission," said Shepard. "It's not technically breaking in."

Liara nodded. However, Jodie noticed that the asari's expression was still rather wide-eyed with worry.

With this in mind, Jodie turned to look at Shepard. "Do you really think we'll have to kill them?" asked Jodie.

"Depends," Shepard replied. "We'll see what they do."

Jodie gulped, sharing a worried glance with Liara. After a few seconds, this glance passed, and Jodie turned to look forward. Aiden trilled softly, his tone nervous and unsettled.

And as she filed into the elevator behind Shepard and the others, Jodie subtly nodded in agreement.

* * *

It had taken the group a short while to get to the Synthetic Insights office. The whole time, Jodie's heart had been beating at an elevated pace. Every so often, she exchanged a worried glance with Liara, and it persisted all the way to the top of the elevator ride and even as Shepard hacked his way into the door.

So when the group ran into a human female and a turian dressed in the Hanshan security's armor upon entering the Synthetic Insights office, Jodie naturally felt the goosebumps crawl up her skin.

 _Oh shit, here we go,_  she thought.  _Shepard, please don't shoot first..._

"Freeze!" The human shouted, the turian brandishing his assault rifle behind her. "Hanshan Security. This office is sealed."

Shepard nodded, but did not go for his gun. "On whose orders?" he asked. "Anoleis?"

"Yes," said the guard. "Lorik Qui'in is under investigation for corruption."

Shepard simply crossed his arms as Jodie watched him intently. "So you'll conveniently ignore the corruption from the guy paying you under the table, then?" he asked. "Anoleis is paying you under the table, I know that. So if you're going to enforce the law, why break it?"

"You're lying," said the human guard. She crossed her arms and looked right up at Shepard. "Anoleis isn't doing anything."

Jodie glanced at Shepard, half expecting him to draw his weapon then. But when he still did nothing, she blinked, and then looked at the guard. "You can deny it all you want, but we know it's true," she said. "Are you really willing to risk your life against a Spectre for a few extra credits?"

Shepard nodded at what Jodie said, his attention turning to the guard. Jodie breathed in and out, relief only then beginning to course through her as she noticed that Shepard had not grabbed his gun yet.

The guard in front of them stood there for a second, and then sighed. "Maybe," she said. She then shook her head. "Fine. Here's the deal: if you pretend you didn't see us, me and my buddy will pretend we didn't see you? Got that?"

Jodie immediately let out a relieved sigh. This was mirrored by Aiden's gurgle, which was quite a bit shorter and yet slower than Jodie was accustomed to.

Shepard nodded. "Yes," he said. "And make sure nobody else comes in."

"Can't guarantee that," said the guard as her turian friend put his rifle away. "Anoleis has a big pocket."

Shepard nodded. "All right," he said.

With this, the guard walked past her post to the elevator, the turian following her very quickly. Jodie watched them go, and then looked over at Shepard. She gave a light smile, nodding at Shepard as he crossed his arms.

"Well, you did talk to them," she said. "And you didn't shoot at them first." She nodded. "I was worried about that."

"We could tell," Wrex said snappily. "I don't think even a varren would fidget more."

"Wrex." Shepard turned to Wrex, a displeased expression it as he placed a hand on his hip. Wrex's eyes narrowed in response, but he refrained from saying anything, even taking a step back. After a few seconds, Shepard turned back to Jodie, and then began walking deeper into the office. "It'll be fine, see?"

"Yes," said Jodie as she fell into step behind Shepard. She looked at the back of his head, not really seeing his expression. "It's just... the way you said that to Lorik Qui'in, I thought... I thought you would be willing to shoot first."  _And that never ends well,_ she mentally added. "Sorry."

"I guess I did word that a little harshly to Lorik Qui'in," Shepard replied. "Rest assured, Miss Holmes, I'm not  _such_ a brute. If I can help it, I will try to talk first." _  
_

"That's a good thing," said Liara. "I was worried about that as well." She then shook her head. "But enough about that. We should find Lorik's terminal."

"Of course," said Shepard. "Now, let's hope that we don't meet any more security officers on our way out. They may not be so willing to listen."

Jodie nodded, and then the group moved through the office in silence.

* * *

Convincing the two officers at the entrance had been easy. Unfortunately, Jodie quickly found they were not able to convince the other officers sweeping the apartment to stand down. It had resulted in quite the firefight, though in the end they did get the data out of Lorik Qui'in's office. And it was data that Shepard was now holding in his hands as they walked out of the Synthetic Insights Office.

Jodie looked behind her, sighing at the elevator as they exited. She paused as the elevator doors closed behind them. Her eyes shone rather sadly, with her shoulders slumped and her gaze turned slightly towards the floor. She paused there, enough time for Shepard and Wrex to start walking away.

Of course, Liara paused upon looking at Jodie's expression. "Jodie, are you all right?" asked Liara.

Jodie sighed. "There... It feels like there was something we could've done about that... Kaira Sterling, was it?" She looked at Liara. "It feels  _wrong_ to have just killed her like that."

Liara nodded, walking over to Jodie and patting her on the back. "You saw how she behaved," Liara said. "Shepard tried to reason with her."

"I know," Jodie said, nodding grimly. "It never makes it better, though."

"Fair enough," Liara replied. She looked down at the ground. "I take it there was a bad experience?"

Jodie chuckled mirthlessly. "In hindsight, 'bad' is putting it lightly," she replied. "But yes."

"I see..." Liara said. "Well, I don't know what to say to make it better, but-"

"It'll be fine." Jodie nodded. "I know that Shepard couldn't have approached that any other way. I just... It'll pass." She then looked down. "Though saying that..."

"It does seem a little cold," Liara said.

Jodie sighed. "I'm worried that I'm saying that," she said. "Means I'm getting too cold about everything..."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, you do at least feel bad about it," said Liara. "I would honestly be worried if you didn't."

"Fair enough," Jodie said. She then looked up, her expression a little lighter. "Thanks for that, Liara."

"Of course," she said. She then looked ahead. "Now we should probably start moving. You'll see why in a second."

Jodie lifted her head up to see Shepard and Wrex standing there waiting for them to finish their conversation. Wrex looked reasonably annoyed if his hunched stance was anything to go by, but Shepard simply leaned against the nearby wall with an unreadable expression on his face. Jodie let out a small little gasp as she noticed this, and then rushed forward.

"Oh, sorry!" she said. "I didn't realize-!"

"It's fine," said Shepard, pushing off the wall. "Come on, we should probably get going. We need to get the evidence to-"

"Commander!"

The whole group immediately turned around, seeing Gianna Parasini run up to the group as quickly as she could in her dress. As soon as she had approached them, she paused, getting to her knees and panting very lightly. When she looked up at them, the group saw an obvious look of concern directed at all of them. Wrex turned, crossing his arms while the others simply turned their attention to Gianna.

"Oh, it's this one again," he said.

"Commander, there have been reports of noise coming from the Synthetic Insights office," Gianna said. "Would you know anything about it."

"It's probably Anoleis' thugs tearing the place apart," Shepard replied with a shrug.

Gianna smirked. "Smartass, huh?" she asked. "That's fine, I can work with that." She then tilted her head. "Meet me at the hotel for a drink, before you talk to Qui'in. I'll be waiting."

And just as quickly as she arrived, Gianna Parasini left the area in front of the office. The sheer speed of the departure left the squad to give each other confused looks, all before they turned to Shepard. Shepard himself gave a confused glance back at everyone, before he then turned around the corner and down the stairs. He blinked quickly, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"What was  _that_ about?" Jodie asked.

"I... don't know..." Liara said. "She wanted to tell us something important...?"

"Well, why didn't she just tell us now?" Wrex asked.

"It must be important, or she wouldn't have told me to meet with her elsewhere," Shepard said. He then nodded. "Either way, we should see what she wants. If she told us to talk to Lorik Qui'in and then told us to meet with her, she must be up to something."

"Probably," said Jodie. "Let's go see what she wants."

* * *

The group made their way to the hotel quickly, Shepard spotting Gianna Parasini off at a table somewhere. Shepard nodded to the others, and then walked over to Gianna with a quickness in their step. Jodie turned to look at Lorik Qui'in out of the corner of her eye, but his gaze was turned away from them. They approached the table, Shepard leaning on it and glancing around him.

"So, Gianna," he said. "Any reason you told us to meet you here?"

"I couldn't explain at the Synthetic Insights office," Gianna replied. "It would've taken too long."

"What would've taken too long?" asked Shepard as he shifted his posture.

Gianna then paused, looking Shepard right in the eye. "Allow me to reintroduce myself. Gianna Parasini, Noveria Internal Affairs."

Jodie's eyes widened. With a quick motion, she glanced over at Liara and Wrex. Wrex barely shifted, looking somewhat bored by the revelation as he tapped his fingers against his arm. Liara had leaned back slightly, her jaw having opened slightly no doubt from the surprise involved. Jodie looked back as Aiden clicked a loud, sharp click.

Jodie rolled her eyes up for the briefest of seconds, and then she crossed her arms and turned her gaze to Gianna.

Shepard's brows furrowed. "Why is an internal affairs agent here?" he asked.

"The Executive Board knows about Anoleis' corruption," Gianna replied.

"It does?" said Shepard. "So I'm going to guess you're undercover."

"Have been for the past six months," said Gianna. "Looks like you know quite a bit about undercover work."

Shepard chuckled dryly. "That I do," he said, a faint smile coming to his face. "That's why you directed me at Lorik Qui'in, then?"

"Yes," said Gianna. "We knew he had evidence, but we didn't know where. I decided to point him to you."

"Hm, crafty," said Shepard. "I like that."

"Good," said Gianna. "Unfortunately, Lorik Qui'in is only interested in getting the data back. That wouldn't help my investigation." She then leaned towards Shepard. "But you... you can convince him to testify against Anoleis, instead of giving that data to him."

Shepard raised his eyebrow. "Well, Gianna, that depends," he said, his steady tone betraying a hint of playfulness under the surface. "I need a garage pass from Lorik Qui'in."

"You help my investigation, I'll provide whatever you need," Gianna replied. "Favor for a favor."

Shepard leaned forward. "And you need Qui'in's data because it'll put Anoleis away?" he asked.

Gianna nodded. "Yes," she said. "The Board is waiting for evidence. All I need to do is say the word and Anoleis will be arrested."

Jodie looked at Shepard, raising one of her eyebrows as she gauged his reaction.

She got to watch as his faint smile bloomed into an excessively gleeful smirk, his eyes shining mischievously in a way she never thought a human's eyes could shine.

* * *

"This is an outrage! I will see to it that you never work in this sector again!"

"Yeah, yeah, get a move on."

Gianna Parasini grabbed Anoleis' handcuffed arm very forcefully, hauling him to his feet as Anoleis was walked out of his own office. On the sidelines, Shepard and company watched in complete silence. Wrex looked reasonably amused judging by how his lips were curled slightly upward, and this smile definitely rubbed off on Liara in some way. Jodie was probably the only one who did not share this mood, as she looked rather lost in thought.

Whatever the case, no one in the group looked more amused than Shepard. He simply stood there, his arms crossed and a very happy smirk on his face. He glanced at Anoleis mirthfully, meeting Anoleis' furious glare with a very relaxed look.

As he was dragged out, Anoleis turned to Shepard. "Shepard, I demand you place this bitch under arrest!" the salarian shouted, right as Gianna paused in front of Shepard.

Shepard simply chuckled, looking at Gianna. "Doesn't he have the right to remain silent?" he asked.

"He does," said Gianna. She then turned to Anoleis, her brows furrowed in obvious annoyance. "I wish to God he'd exercise it."

A low growl emanated from Anoleis' throat, but before the salarian could say much else Gianna was already in front, leading him out the door. Gianna then walked past the commander, Anoleis luckily having the presence of mind to finally just walk upright. "See you, Commander," Gianna said. "I owe you a beer."

With this, Gianna strutted out of Anoleis' office.

The group was left standing inside Anoleis' office, content to watch Gianna haul Anoleis away through the glass of the doors. After a few seconds, Shepard turned to his squadmates, uncrossing his arms as he did so. Jodie looked at Shepard, her gaze blank as she took in his expression of glee. Liara took note of it too, even as Shepard smiled broadly.

He then held up the electronic card that Gianna had given him earlier. "And that should take care of that," said Shepard, his smile steady.

"Heh, got to put away an annoying pyjack," said Wrex, his smile broadening somewhat. "Can't think of anything better than that."

"Tell me about it," said Shepard as he stowed the garage pass away. "I'm not even glad we got the garage pass. Personally, I'm just glad that we got to do something about that annoying politician. Turns out he was corrupt too."

"And you take pride in that?" asked Liara, looking at Shepard with wide-eyed curiosity.

"Of course I do," said Shepard. "He had it coming." He then looked at the others. "Anyway, I think we've stayed here at Port Hanshan long enough. I think it's time we went to Peak 15, no?"

"Finally, some  _real_ action," said Wrex, looking extremely pleased. "Let's destroy some geth."

With this, Shepard and Wrex walked straight for the office door. Jodie followed, though her pace was slower than the two men in front of her. Liara looked at Jodie, falling into step with her.

It was at this point that Liara noticed Jodie's perturbed frown. It was also then that she saw Jodie stroking her jawbone right beside her chin. Jodie blinked a few times, even coming to a stop right at the door to Anoleis' office.

"Is something the matter?" Liara asked.

Jodie turned her attention to Liara, the pensive look still on her face. "We didn't really see exactly what it was that Anoleis did, did we?" she asked.

"I..." Liara paused, glancing at where Anoleis had been dragged away. She then looked down at the ground, rubbing her own chin in thought. "Hm... You know, we didn't. Shepard never asked Lorik Qui'in what exactly Anoleis was doing..."

Jodie nodded. "I'm no fan of politicians myself, but I have to wonder," she said. "Why  _did_ he seem so happy to see Anoleis get locked up?"

"I don't know," Liara said. "Though, he  _was_ paying people under the table to ransack a rival."

Jodie nodded. "Hm, that is true," she said, rubbing her chin in thought. "I guess after that, you wouldn't need much proof that he was doing some very questionable things." She then sighed. "He's still too gleeful about it, though."

"Maybe," said Liara as she looked up at the ceiling. She then shook her head. "I'm not sure it's something we should worry about now. We have more pressing matters to attend to."

"Yeah, we do," said Jodie. "Come on. We have a peak to get to."

Liara looked at the floor grimly for a second. Jodie took note of this, even as she advanced very slowly. Liara looked up in time, however, a new look of determination on her face. The asari walked forward, exiting Anoleis' office with a quickness in her step that Jodie had never seen before.

Jodie nodded. "I hope she'll be ready," Jodie muttered under her breath. Her gaze turned to Aiden. "Don't you?"

Aiden's chirp was low, foreboding. Jodie snorted quietly in response, but otherwise she gave no indication that she shared Aiden's sentiments.


	10. Chapter 9

The garage itself was rather unassuming. There were several very large crates scattered around the garage, and in the distance Jodie could see a large metal door. Through the windows, she could just make out the individual snowflakes closest to the window that gave way to a mass of grey beyond. Jodie shivered just seeing the cold from there, but her attention was immediately grabbed by the tank a ways in front of her. She tilted her head to the side, noting how odd it was that the same tank that was on the Normandy happened to be contained on Noveria.

Shepard took a few steps forward, crossing his arms upon looking at the tank. "This is convenient," he observed. "I'm surprised it's not covered in wrapping paper."

Jodie chuckled softly, trading an amused glance with Liara.

Wrex looked at the tank, his arms crossed in front of him. "I've been in one of these things a couple times," said the krogan. "It's warm, it doesn't slide off the mountain... It's actually ideal for this dump." The krogan snorted in derision. "And that pyjack told us it was unpassable."

"Well, he  _was_ paying security forces to tamper with evidence," said Liara. "I suppose we shouldn't have expected any less."

"At any rate, here we are," said Shepard. "I think we should-"

Aiden released an alarmed trill. Shepard kept talking, but Jodie's attention was drawn to one of the crates in the distance. After a few seconds, she saw the crate open, and out marched a few synthetic-looking forms. Jodie looked at them for all of one second, noticing they looked familiar.

And that was when the images of the broadcasts that came out of Eden Prime came to her mind.

"Geth!"

Jodie immediately pulled her pistol out, flattening herself against cover. As she did, several loud bangs sounded out in the area. When Jodie peered out of cover, she saw small groups geth come out of crates positioned all around the garage.

She raised her pistol immediately, firing at the closest geth. She fired blindly, taking down its shields before a well-placed shot to its chest put it down. She blinked, surprised at how easily it went down before she then turned her attention to the next one. She was only able to get another shot in before she was forced back behind cover. She glanced back to the tank, noticing the geth that advanced towards Shepard's position from where he had flattened himself against the wheels of the tank.

It was then that she aimed back at the geth she had shot at. She had barely aimed her gun at another geth before Urdnot Wrex rushed right into view, shotgun in hand as he fired it point-blank at the geth Jodie had aimed at. He let out a loud bark of amusement, pumping his shotgun with one arm as he jumped up. He flared blue for a moment, and then Jodie watched as another geth unit some distance away was sent crashing into a wall on the far end of the garage. She blinked in shock, holding her pistol still for a second or two.

And then, some rounds impacted against her crate. Jodie ducked behind the crate in question. She paused for a few seconds, and then shook her head.

 _Dammit, Jodie,_   _ **focus**_ , she thought.

She then came out of cover and shot at a geth very close to the tank. Her shots hit true, the geth falling after a few shots. Off to the side, she saw a geth get lifted off the ground, and thinking quickly she turned to shoot at it. The rounds impacted with the geth, and Jodie watched as it did a flip in the air before crashing against the wall.

Jodie then heard a loud series of clicks from behind her. She turned to the source of the sound, and then saw something appear from thin air. It was mechanical in nature, and there was no mistaking the flashlight head that it looked at Jodie with. Jodie took in a sharp breath.

She had no time to react before the monster tackled her. Jodie let out a yell as she was sent falling on her back a foot or so away. The machine landed on top of her, pinning both of her arms above her head as it elicited some strange electronic scream. Jodie let out a startled gasp as she saw this.

However, not one to be taken out easily, Jodie immediately fought back. Miraculously, her gun was still in her hand, so she quickly shook that arm to try to break it free. At the same time, she gave the machine a rough kick to its knee, though this seemed to be ineffective.

"Dammit," she growled under her breath.

It was then that the machine glowed blue. Jodie had no time to react before the geth rose from the ground above her, though she also felt the pull effect her somewhat. She blinked in surprise, before she then noticed that the geth's grip on her arm had loosened.

Wasting no time, Jodie yanked especially hard, and was greeted with her arm breaking free. She then pointed the barrel of her pistol directly at the geth's body. She squeezed the trigger, and saw white fluid fly out of the back of the machine.

It was after she shot the machine two or three more times that she felt gravity take its effect on her, and then both her and the machine fell to the ground. Jodie whipped her free hand out, and this kept the machine from falling on her. She quickly rolled away, yanking the hand free from the now-defunct machine's grip and getting to her feet quickly. As she did, she opened fire on another geth that was rushing over to her.

It was then that Jodie heard the sounds of gunfire come from behind her. She turned to see the Japanese lady from the port run in with a few other ERCS guards. She barked out a few orders, and then the sounds of several assault rifles firing at once filled the air.

In a matter of seconds, the fight had finished. Jodie blinked, looking around them. She saw the Japanese lady rush over to Shepard, who had been hiding behind a nearby crate. Liara was there as well, looking no worse for wear as she stowed her pistol away. As Liara ran over to Jodie, Jodie saw Wrex come to stand behind Shepard.

"What are those things?" she asked. "What did you do here, Commander?"

"Me?" Shepard shouted. "I'm the victim here! The geth attacked us!"

"Geth?" she replied. "You expect me to... Where did they come from?"

"Probably that matriarch you let go to Peak 15," Wrex commented dryly.

"I don't believe that," said the head ERCS unit.

Jodie tuned out of their conversation rather quickly as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to Liara, and it was only then that she realized that she had been crouching. Jodie breathed out, and then stood upright.

"Are you all right?" Liara asked.

Jodie nodded. "I'm fine, thanks," she said. She then pointed at the geth that had tackled her. "Were those biotics...?"

"Mine? Yes," said Liara. "Wrex was a little busy taking down a larger geth."

Jodie nodded. "It's fine," she said. "Thanks for that." She looked at the geth. "I didn't think those things could exist..."

"Well, there they are if you need any additional proof," Liara said with a shrug. She then gave Jodie a smile. "And you're welcome. That's... that's a thing humans say, right?"

Jodie chuckled. "It is," she replied. She then turned back to look at Shepard. "Come on. I'm sure he wants to get to Peak 15 just as much as we do."

* * *

The ride to Peak 15 could best be summed up as rather bumpy. There were of course several geth that got in the way, but the time still passed for Jodie. After all, it was Wrex manning the guns and not her, and with Shepard driving she was sure they were on the right track. She did get a few unexpected surprises in bumps, but she assumed they were either geth units or abnormally large rocks. Either way, she had nothing much to say about the somewhat cramped space she and Liara occupied, except that there were no windows and a couple of empty seats.

Occasionally, she would glance at Liara, seeing that the asari was pretty tense. Her eyes seemed optimistic as ever, but Jodie sensed in the way her fists were balled up that Liara was worried. Her gaze was directed at the ground as well, which left very little room for imagination on Jodie's end. Liara's nervous fidgeting only seemed to increase as they got closer to their target destination.

Jodie wanted to say something, maybe allay some of Liara's fears about her mother. But every time she opened her mouth, her mind drew a blank. She could not find the right words to at least comfort her.

 _And you'd think from having dealt with Nathan that I_ would  _know,_  Jodie thought bitterly.  _But this isn't the same, I guess..._

Aiden released a hollow chirp, and Jodie sighed. Liara must have heard it, because she then pulled her head up. All traces of weakness immediately fled Liara's features, though, and she straightened up and looked away from Jodie.

Before Jodie could react, the tank came to a stop. Jodie looked up as the driver's part of the tank opened. A second later, Wrex clambered out of there, Shepard following in his footsteps.

"We're here," said Shepard. "We expect hostiles to ambush us in the garage, so make sure you're armed and ready."

Jodie and Liara nodded. "Yes, sir," said Jodie as she rose, pulling out her pistol.

The group quickly filed out of the tank, Jodie and Liara jumping out after Wrex and Shepard. The krogan looked around, and then sniffed the air once. Jodie looked right at him as he raised his shotgun.

"We've got krogan here," Wrex said.

Shepard nodded. "Stay close together, then," he said.

And with this, the group rounded around the tank.

They had barely gotten to the nearest crate when Jodie thought she saw a red laser appear out of nowhere. Immediately, her senses heightened, and she ducked into cover. The others got the same idea, even Wrex. However, as they moved into cover, Jodie saw another two lasers appear, the lasers tracking the area for Shepard and the others as they hid behind cover.

"Shit!" Jodie said.

Shepard looked up. "Wrex, how many krogan do you think there are?" he asked.

"Don't know, won't know until they come rushing at us," said Wrex.

Shepard nodded. "Jodie, get up there and take out those snipers! We'll hold the fort down here!"

Jodie glanced up at where the lasers came from, noticing that they were up on a metal walkway. She then glanced to the side, her mind plotting out a path amidst all the crates and stairwells she could see. She nodded as her plan came together.

 _Let's just hope there are no krogan in the way..._  she thought.

She then looked at her pistol, shaking her head and stowing it. She then pulled the assault rifle off of her back, nodding at Shepard.

"On it, sir!" she shouted.

She then looked immediately to her left, seeing a group of crates that zigzagged straight to a set of stairs. Taking a deep breath, she rushed to the nearest crate, diving behind cover just as the loud crack of a sniper rifle went off. Jodie saw her shields fizzle out, so she planted her back against the crate she hid behind.

That was when she caught sight of the first krogan running towards the group. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw another one. She paused for a second, seeing the krogan rush towards them. She took a deep breath in, deciding it was best to let Shepard and the others deal with the krogan. After all, she would probably only succeed at drawing attention to herself.

She then heard a soft beep emanate from her armor, and watched as her vision turned an industrial blue for the shortest of split-seconds.

Jodie then ran towards the next crate, and then pushed off of it to run over to a crate very close to some stairs. As she slid into cover again, she saw as her shields failed again.

Her back slammed against the piece of cover, and that was when she saw a few geth grunts rushing forward. They did not cling to the walls like the others, but they were headed towards the commander.

Jodie frowned, bringing her assault rifle to bear. She thought of Ashley's training, and quickly aimed and fired at one of the geth units. She managed to take down the geth's shields with a short burst of fire, but before she could take it down the geth had turned and started firing at her. Jodie pushed herself back behind cover with a grunt, several bursts of fire striking the cover she was close to. She squeezed her eyes shut, hearing the strange geth-like rounds impact against her cover. When the sound subsided barely a second later, she swung right around, trading fire with the geth. Her first few rounds missed due to the motion of the geth, causing Jodie to swear loudly. A second later, though, one of her rounds hit the geth right in the side of its head, taking it down.

Jodie nodded.  _I better get up there before more attention is drawn to me_ , she thought.

With this, she rounded the cover she had hidden behind, making a mad dash up the stairs. Sure enough, she heard quite a bit of gunfire directed at her, and her shields gave way just as she had rushed up to the top of the stairs. She quickly dived into cover, and briefly she felt Aiden cover her as her side crashed into cover.

She breathed in and out, catching her breath briefly as she pulled herself up to her feet. "Thanks, Aiden," she whispered.

She then looked over to where the snipers were. Jodie counted three of them in all, their flashlight-like "eyes" more pronounced up close. They were still concentrated on the main group dealing with another incoming krogan. Jodie pushed herself against cover, looking at the snipers. She then checked her assault rifle's heat, satisfied that it was at its lowest level.

"Okay," she said to herself, eyeing the three snipers. "Let's do this."

She then vaulted over her cover, keeping her head low in case the geth snipers turned towards her. She quickly slinked towards the nearest one, quickly moving up the walkway. She approached pretty quickly, and then flattened herself behind cover. She glanced up at Aiden for a second, and then nodded, ensuring that her grip on her assault rifle was firm.

She then rose out of cover and fired a burst at the closest of the three snipers. With one short burst of fire, Jodie took out the geth's shields, which was enough to distract the sniper from aiming at Shepard and the others. She then fired another short burst, the robot going down with three bullet holes in the chest and one on its neck.

Jodie turned to aim at the next closest sniper when she saw that it had turned towards her, quickly taking aim. She let out a loud squeak, ducking back behind cover. She managed to duck behind cover quickly enough for a sniper rifle round to fly over her head, leaving the round to impact against the wall. The impact caused a deafening sound, however, causing Jodie to cover her ears quickly.

"Fuck!" Jodie shouted, her ears ringing from the sound. She squeezed her eyes shut, though thankfully she did not feel any kind of dizziness set in. This was a relief to her as she grabbed the assault rifle that she only then realized she had unintentionally dropped. She checked its heat capacity again, and as the ringing in her ears subsided she looked over her cover just in time to see that the sniper that had shot at her was running.

"Oh no you don't!" Jodie came out of cover, firing her assault rifle at the retreating sniper. She managed to take its shields down, but when the shields went down, most of her shots missed. Glancing briefly at the third sniper to ensure its concentration was still away from her, she vaulted out of cover, sprinting after the geth sniper. She stopped firing to gain some ground on it, and as she did, she saw the third sniper come out of cover, aiming the rifle directly at her.

Seeing this, Jodie slid into cover. She barely registered the crack of the third sniper's rifle as she checked the heat quickly. As soon as she heard the crack, she came out of cover, and fired at the fleeing sniper. The geth went down very quickly, but Jodie wasted no time before she turned her assault rifle towards the last remaining geth sniper. Its shields were whittled down quickly, and before she knew it it fell to a mass accelerator round to the head.

As soon as this sniper went down, Jodie looked around, only then taking stock of the calm silence that had overtaken the garage. Jodie nodded, walking over to the nearest guardrail and looking down to see Shepard and the others stowing their weapons.

Jodie looked down at Shepard as he turned his attention to her. "I think that's all of them, Commander," Jodie said.

Shepard nodded. "Good work," he said. "We should keep going."

Jodie nodded. "Yeah. I'll meet you at the top of the stairs." With this she began walking over to Shepard.

They met at the top of the stairs, to be greeted by everyone's stares. Jodie wasted no time, falling in line with them. She noticed that Wrex was not glaring at her, but she made no attempt to draw attention to it as Shepard walked over to a doorway.

"I believe  _this_ is the way in," said Shepard as he walked towards a nearby door.

Liara stepped forward. "Wouldn't there be automated defenses?" she asked.

"There would be," said Shepard. He then opened the door to the next chamber rather quickly. "I guess that means we-"

And then, all four of them looked up to where a turret would be. It was there, but rather than turned towards them it was turned towards the door. Jodie stepped forward, looking up at the turret in confusion.

"That's odd," said Jodie. "Why's the turret turned in?"

"Maybe it's keeping something from getting out?" Liara suggested. "But what could it be keeping in?"

Jodie frowned, looking up at the turret.  _Great, another experiment gone wrong_ , she thought.  _Aiden, will people like this ever learn?_

Aiden gurgled with a flat tone as Shepard looked up. "Well, whatever it's keeping in must be pretty bad," Shepard said. "And I doubt they're keeping the geth in there." He then raised his gun. "Keep your guard up."

Jodie, Wrex, and Liara all nodded, Wrex taking out his shotgun. Jodie pulled out her pistol, and then glanced up at Aiden as she followed Shepard deeper into Peak 15.

* * *

The group advanced past a few more pockets of geth, taking them down without too many problems. The slightly more confined spaces meant there was less cover to go around, but that applied for both sides as opposed to just one, so the group was able to take them out. Jodie was relieved that there were no snipers around: it was less sneaking she had to do. The hallways were a little chillier than she was used to, but it was a small detail she got over rather quickly.

As she followed Shepard around the corridors, her mind wondered. She looked at the sterile environment around her, wondering how much of it would have been used for scientific purposes. She had seen labs similar to this before, but none of them had the technological wizardry at their disposal that she saw here. Of course, much of it was ruined technological wizardry from what she could see.

 _Would they have used this to see what you are, Aiden?_ Jodie thought as she trudged along.

Aiden let out a series of clicks, the sound reminding Jodie of clattering teeth.  _Yeah, it is a little worrying, isn't it?_ she asked.  _Either way, this doesn't look like a problem caused by entities. If they turned the turrets in, that means it was physical._ _  
_

Aiden gurgled in reply. Jodie nodded, following Shepard with renewed focus as she walked forward. She looked around. _What_ were  _they experimenting on?_  she thought.  _And why would-?_

And then, Jodie heard a sharp clap of metal. She tensed up instantly, her gaze turning all around her. Liara did much the same thing, with Shepard and Wrex simply stopping. The group remained silent for a few seconds, looking around them vigilantly.

"Was that...?" Liara asked.

"From the ducts?" Wrex finished. "Now I'd like to know how the geth fit in there..."

"I think we all-"

The loud sound of metal crashing interrupted Shepard. This one definitely sounded a little closer to them though it was beyond the door they were situated in front of.

"It came from over there," said Jodie, pointing her gun. "We should be careful..."

"That we should," said Shepard as he inched forward. His hand darted towards the control panel that was meant to open the door, and then the group quickly filed into the next room.

Said next room was a somewhat large chamber, with a ramp going up to a short upper story and a row of computer-looking things that seemed to form a wall with how tall they were. The upper story had many windows, looking into testing rooms that Jodie assumed was left for whatever the people on Peak 15 had experimented on.

Jodie stepped forward, looking ahead. She quietly switched to her assault rifle, subtly positioning herself so that Wrex was always just slightly ahead of her. She glanced up at Aiden briefly, and then she turned her attention back to their surroundings.

It was then that a third crash of metal was heard, followed by the sound of shattering glass. Jodie turned right towards the source of the sound, trusting Aiden to watch her back. She saw some glass shards fall towards their level, but the cause of it was something she could not quite see. She looked over to Wrex, but the krogan simply squinted, looking around for the predator.

And then, Aiden let out a shrill trill from behind her. Jodie turned around quickly, her assault rifle ready to fire.

The assault rifle was promptly knocked away from what she was aiming at, however. And as she looked more intently at the target, Jodie gasped at what she saw.

It was a large spider-like creature, though Jodie could have sworn that most spiders were less shrimp-like than what was in front of her. She glanced at the two tentacles that sprung out of it, watching as they flailed about. Jodie saw a couple of bud-like appendages at the end open and close, and when Jodie tried to look for eyes...

Jodie let out a loud cry and ran back. The spider lashed out, one of its tentacles whipping out at her. The bud at the end barely missed Jodie's face, with Jodie letting out a loud scream as she fell to the ground. Without hesitating, Jodie's fingers squeezed the trigger, firing a stream of rounds directly into the spider-like creature. The creature let out a pained cry, something ethereal and unearthly to hear from such a thing. She quickly pushed herself to her feet, though before she could fire anything more, she heard the blast of someone's shotgun.

It was then that she heard a skittering sound from off to the side. When Jodie turned, she immediately brought her assault rifle up, shooting at a bunch of small green spiders that rushed towards the group. The others joined in on firing at them, the little spiders bursting open and splattering green fluid everywhere. Jodie noticed that the fluid seemed to eat away at the walls, but she did not concentrate on that as one of the green spiders came up right to her and exploded, the green fluid splattering onto her armor.

Within seconds, it began to eat at her armor, and Jodie let out a shocked cry. She shot at some of the spiders, backing away against the opposite wall as she did. She frantically looked down at herself, noticing the green fluid begin to eat through her armor. It was then that she started feeling a slight burn at her shins, a burn that slowly expanded.

Jodie let out a loud cry, looking at the armor in shock.

However, just before she could feel the full burn, something soothing washed over her. When she turned, she saw Liara standing close by, her omni-tool held close to Jodie's body. Jodie blinked in surprise, noticing that the asari's eyes were rather wide. It was then that she became aware of the silence surrounding them, and then she looked at Shepard as he turned to her. She caught a very brief glimpse of annoyance before he approached, concern taking forefront on his features.

"Jodie, are you all right?" asked Liara.

"I... I'm sorry, I just... those things exploded, and-"

"It's all right, Holmes," Shepard replied, holding his hand up to stop her. "Next time, remember that medigel can handle acid burns as well."

Jodie nodded nervously. "Right," she said. "Okay. Medigel deals with acid burns." She then looked at the carnage around them, seeing the area littered with the corpses of those little spiders. "What the  _fuck_ were those  _things_?"

"Who knows?" Jodie turned to Wrex from where he was kneeling by the corpse of the large spider creature. "I guess we found what they were trying to keep in."

"Those monsters?" Liara asked. "Do you know what they are?"

"Well, I can guess what they are," said Wrex. "Can't tell you for sure, but I've got some idea." He then grimaced, looking at the upper level. "They better not be what I think they are, though. If they are, I can guarantee someone's going to be shot by the end of the day."

Jodie looked at Wrex. "So they're messing with something they shouldn't mess with?" she asked.

"Well, we had to kill their asses to keep them from overrunning the galaxy when my people dealt with them," said Wrex. "So yes."

Jodie sighed in annoyance. "Great, more of this kind of thing," she muttered. She then looked to Wrex. "Some people just don't know when to stop, huh?"

Wrex chuckled wryly, a chuckle that was synched quite well with Aiden's unamused chirp. "Really," he said.

Shepard nodded, and then walked away from Jodie. "We'll have to get those wounds treated on the Normandy," he said. "For now, we've gone too far to stop. We need to get deeper. If the rachni are here, I have the feeling Benezia is at the heart of it."

Jodie nodded, pushing off the wall. "Yes, sir," she said, her voice firming back up.

Gingerly, Jodie checked her assault rifle, and it was only then that she realized her grip on her assault rifle had tightened considerably. Her grip loosened, and then she took a deep breath. AS soon as she did this, she felt her heart beat a little slower.

Jodie then looked at Liara. "Thanks," she said.

The asari nodded. "You're welcome," she said. "Come on. We should follow Shepard."

Jodie nodded, and then looked to Shepard and Wrex as they began ascending to the next level. She and Liara both followed, Jodie tapping the assault rifle nervously as she looked to the air vents for the next attack of the spider-things. As they did this, Aiden gurgled very quietly, Jodie catching his odd form of speech as her feet moved up to the nearby ramp.

* * *

As it turned out, looking for the spider creatures became the  _less_ annoying part of journeying through Peak 15. What became annoying was getting to there.

Benezia was not close to where Shepard had pulled the tank into, as it turned out. The area that Benezia was located was also only accessible via tram. A tram that was down because of shutting off critical systems. And so, the group had to quickly move around Peak 15, turning on power systems and turning off security protocols.

All that was bad enough on its own merits, but they were constantly hounded by both the spider-like things and various geth units. Thankfully, the group had been on their toes so they were never truly caught off guard whenever the spider-like things attacked, and the spaces were claustrophobic enough that they rarely had to worry about being flanked. Thus, they powered through much of the start-up sequences.

It was such that when the group finally boarded that tram towards Benezia's actual location, the group breathed a collective sigh of relief. Even Aiden joined in on the sighing, a sound Jodie rarely heard from him. Shepard put his gun away as the tram sped towards Benezia's location, and he looked at all of them.

"Well, we made it this far," said Shepard. "But I get the feeling the worst things are coming up."

Jodie shook her head, sighing in frustration. "That's  _always_ how it turns out, isn't it?" she asked.

"Well, can't say I expected anything else from these idiots," Wrex said, looking out the window.

"Well, mother is in the peak itself," said Liara, taking in a deep breath. "She must have been behind this." She then looked down at the ground. "To think that she has fallen so far... What could have caused this?"

"We don't know, but we're going to find out soon," said Shepard. He then looked over at her. "Are you sure you're all right doing this?"

"Well, I've come too far to back out now, so I'm in it to the end," Liara replied. "Besides, if she allowed those...  _things_ to run around the lab, we have to stop her." She said this, balling her hand into a fist. "I'm with you to the end, Commander."

Shepard nodded. "Good," he said. He then looked ahead, as did Jodie. The tram continued to move. "And as for what we find... I don't expect we'll find Benezia right away. If she did what Wrex thinks she did, she was not acting alone. There have to be other personnel there as well."

"We're going to prioritize keeping them alive, right?" Jodie asked.

Shepard glanced at her for a few seconds, Jodie finding his expression difficult to read. After a second, he nodded, looking forward. "Yes... Of course..." he said. Jodie thought she detected a hint of slight hesitation in there, but she brushed it off as he stepped forward in the tram. "But I wouldn't trust most of them. For all we know, they're allied with Benezia."

"So?" asked Jodie. "I'm sure most of them want out, or are at least scared." She then turned to Shepard. "I know I would be in that situation."

Aiden chirped his agreement, and though Jodie knew Shepard could not hear him she felt comforted knowing someone agreed with her.

Shepard simply shrugged. "Maybe," he said. "We can help, but we put them at arm's length until they've proven their trust."

Jodie frowned, but nodded. "Okay," she said. "Okay, I can do that."  _I've been doing it the whole time I've been here, after all_ , she thought wryly.

Shepard nodded. He then looked to Wrex and Liara. "We'll investigate the situation and act from there," he said. "Above all, we put our priority on Benezia."

"Of course, Commander," Liara said with a respectful bow of her head.

The three of them spent the rest of the tram ride looking at each other in silence. Jodie glanced at Shepard, and then looked outside to the tunnel containing the tram. The walls seemed foreboding, almost as if they were a warning. Jodie expected the spider-like creatures to pop out of the panels and jump out at the tram.

But as she looked on, she saw nothing of the sort. She continued to watch the walls nevertheless, waiting for Aiden to give some indication that these spiders were anywhere nearby.

And so, the tram sped off to its destination.

* * *

" _Now arriving at Rift Station. Binary Helix research facility._ "

The tram slowed to a stop at a station soon afterwards, with Shepard picking up his rifle. "Well, here we are," he said. "Let's go see what happened."

The group exited the tram, Jodie following along as they traveled through a couple of empty rooms. The rooms were a little darker than before, and Jodie could see the rock formations just above the windows that the tram station contained on the ceiling. She crossed her arms as she looked at the ceiling, before the group walked to an elevator. The elevator ride was taken in silence, with Aiden remaining somewhat quiet. Overall, it was pretty quiet, even going up the lift.

And then the door opened to the lift-and there, they saw the first human face they had seen since they left Port Hanshan. He was an older-looking mercenary-type with a bald head and somewhat darker skin, all of which became very apparent given how he was standing between two crates obviously meant to act as makeshift cover. The older man in armor had his weapon extended out, but his finger was off the trigger. Taking another look, she saw two other assault rifles peeking out from behind the cover.

As soon as the man saw the lift open, he breathed a sigh of relief, lowering his weapon. "Stand down," he said. "They're friendlies."

Jodie looked over at Shepard. He simply shook his head, walking out of the lift with everyone else following close behind. Shepard approached, looking at the older man.

"Sorry," the older man said, bowing his head. "We couldn't be sure what was on that tram."

"Because those stupid bugs have brilliantly demonstrated their ability to pilot technically complicated machinery," Shepard replied sarcastically.

The captain's eyes narrowed at Shepard's comment. "I'm not making any goddamn assumptions," he replied, his voice dropping in such a way that it sent chills down Jodie's spine. "Not after all the  _shit_ that happened here." He then crossed his arms. "Look, you're human, and that's enough for me. Now who are you, and what were you sent here for?"

Shepard nodded curtly. "My name is Shepard," he said. "I'm a Spectre."

The captain's eyes widened in surprise, and then he tilted his head to the side. "Huh," he said. "Interesting." He shrugged. "Well, I'm not about to look a heavily-armored gift horse in the mouth." He then shifted his posture on his feet, looking directly at Shepard. "The aliens overran the hot labs last week. Only Han Olar got out, and he ain't all there anymore. The first we knew, the bastards were clawing into my command post. We had a lot more staff then."

"They surprised you," said Shepard, looking around. "Considering the enemy, you did what you could."

"Doesn't feel like a good job at all, does it?" the captain asked.

"No," said Shepard. "But again, it was all you could do."

"Yes," said the captain. "The board sent an asari to clean up the mess. She went into the hot labs and we haven't heard from her since."

"An asari..." Liara turned to Shepard. "You don't think it's...?"

"Maybe," Shepard said, turning his attention to Liara. "We need to find her, but if I can help it I won't let any of your people die."

"If you want to find her, there is an emergency elevator that goes to the hot labs," the captain said. He then pulled out a key-card contraption, holding it out to Shepard. "This will let you access it."

"Thank you," said Shepard, taking the keycard from the captain delicately.

The captain nodded. "If you need any first aid, you can check with Doctor Cohen downstairs in the med bay," he said.

Shepard nodded. "Can you tell me anything about these aliens?"

"Ask Doctor Olar," the captain replied. "He's the only one who made it out of the hot labs. If anyone would know what these things are, it would be him."

Wrex grunted at this, but Shepard remained undeterred. "Thank you," he said. "I think I'll run over there and ask. My krogan friend here has been wanting to know what they are."

"As are we, I'm afraid," said the captain. "I think that-"

And then, they heard a loud wheeze from behind them. Jodie immediately turned around, and as soon as she did a loud impact of something fleshy against metal was heard. Jodie immediately grabbed her assault rifle.

"Shit!" shouted the captain. "Man the-"

But before he could finish, a ventilation cover on the ground was violently thrown into the air, and one of the spider-things crawled right out of the duct. As the cover violently clattered behind the spider-like thing, it advanced towards the group. Of course, against quite a large number of people with guns, the one large spider was not much of a match. Liara was quick to throw a biotic attack at it, and this lifted the spider and allowed everyone else to fire at it without fear of retaliation. Everyone pumped it full of holes, and when Jodie looked over to the vent it had broken out of she did not see any more spiders that would come out of it. She sighed, though her heart rate was still pretty high considering how suddenly the attack came.

"Thanks for the help." The team turned to the captain, who had just put down his rifle. "Every few hours, one of those things tries the tram tunnel. It's been better since we locked down the elevator."

Shepard nodded. "I'll do whatever I can," he said.

"I don't know why they keep throwing themselves at us," said the captain. "Even animals have to learn not to do that some time." He then leaned forward. "I would be careful, commander. Something is strange about them."

Shepard nodded. "I'll keep that in mind," he said.

And with this, Shepard walked past the captain. Jodie and the others followed him into the heart of the research labs.

* * *

It took a bit more walking to get to the main hub of where the survivors were, but when they did, they found that there were people still alive. A few security guards were posted at the entrances into the space, but otherwise the space was occupied with survivors. Some, like the salarian in the corner, seemed almost hopeful, but Jodie could still feel the grim atmosphere that hung over. These were survivors of an attack, and the state of most everyone there did not allow anyone in the group to forget that.

But their target of conversation was not there, and so the group decided to look around to see if they could find him. After all, they needed more information on their enemy before they could act.

Eventually, they came to a smaller chamber, and there they saw a volus that was standing stock-still. Jodie still found herself bewildered at the fact that such a species existed, with a pressurized suit The volus' suit hid any form of expression, but Jodie could tell from the way he stood almost stock-still like a statue that he was thinking. Shepard approached slowly, with Jodie and the others following him.

"Han Olar?" Shepard asked.

The volus remained quiet. However, he turned his head to Shepard, and Jodie thought she saw one of those strange fingers twitch quickly.

"You came to find out about-" he gasped loudly, the suit's breathing apparatus audible in his breath "-them, didn't you?" the volus said quietly.

"You mean those things out there?" Shepard asked.

"Yes," said the volus. "I'm the only survivor of the hot labs, you know."

"We do," Shepard said. He then indicated Wrex. "My krogan friend has some idea what they are, but he needed confirmation first."

"How did you make it out, anyway?" asked Jodie.

The volus paused for a few seconds, looking directly ahead of him. There was something in the way the volus' arms drooped a half-second later that told Jodie that something was wrong.

"I killed her," the volus said, his voice a little hollow.

Liara tilted her head to the side. "Who?" she asked.

"Dr. Zhonmua," said the volus. "We... we were going to lunch when the alarms went off. I ran into the tram, and I closed the doors. She..." The volus paused, the eye-slits closing for a few seconds. "She banged on the windows once. Then they sliced her to pieces." He took a long breath, the breathing apparatus on the volus' hardsuit amplifying the sound. "Her head came apart like a melon."

Jodie glanced at Liara in time to see Liara's mouth hang open. Jodie herself swallowed a lump in her throat as she turned back to the volus.  _My God_ , she thought.  _That's..._ _  
_

"I closed the door," the volus continued. "I... I killed her."

Shepard nodded understandingly, before kneeling to the volus' level. "I see," he said. "I'm sorry." He paused, placing a hand on the volus' shoulder. The volus looked at Shepard in bewilderment, and then his head hung as far as it could in that suit. "Tell me what you know," Shepard said softly, much more tenderly than Jodie expected. "I... I can't make it better, but I can make your survival mean something. What do you know about those things?"

The volus then slapped Shepard's hand away. "You think I want absolution?" he asked, almost offended. "There is none!"

"Maybe not, but what you know can help save others," Shepard continued. "And if that's how it works, then I think it's worth it, no?" He then nodded, standing up and looking at the volus. "What do you know about them?"

The volus breathed in once. "About the rachni?"

"Rachni?" asked Liara. "That's pre-"

"I  _knew_ it!"

Jodie jumped as soon as Wrex stamped on the ground. The krogan looked quite angry, his eye ridges bent in fury. He huffed and puffed a little bit, Jodie's hair standing on end as she looked at him. The krogan stood hunched over for a few seconds, looking about ready to pounce on the volus.

But after a few seconds, Wrex stood upright. "It's not possible," he said. "How the hell did they bring  _them_ back?"

"The rachni?" asked Jodie, confused. "What are they?"

Liara looked at Jodie. "They were a species that existed a long time ago," she said. "When they were first discovered, the Council got embroiled in a war with them. It was devastating."

"And that's why we're here now," said Wrex, his voice strained in anger. "The salarians found out we existed, then sicced us all on the rachni." He paused, his expression lightening up. "I hear it was a great fight. I'm almost sad I missed it." His original angry expression then returned. "We killed all their asses, and then the Council thanked us by neutering us. And now this matriarch is bringing them back?" He growled. "Whatever happens in here,  _I_ get to kill that damn matriarch."

Jodie nodded, and then looked to Wrex. "We'll deal with this, don't worry," she said. "Right Shepard?"

She turned to Shepard, seeing him rubbing his chin. His brows were furrowed, but his mouth remained in a neutral position. As soon as eyes were on him, he nodded, dropping his hand and turning back to the volus.

"We will," said Shepard rather slowly. He then looked over to the volus. "Though how did they get an extinct species?"

"They found it in a derelict ship," Olar replied. "An egg. Waiting since the last battles."

"I see..." said Shepard, putting his hands on his hips and giving a very slight nod. "That  _would_ be useful for Saren's army, wouldn't it?"

"It certainly sounds like it," said Liara. She then looked around her, frowning. "This must be stopped."

"Exactly what I was thinking," said Shepard, turning around to look at them. "We should go to the hot labs, then. See what we can do there."

"Sure thing," said Wrex.

And with this, the group left in the direction of the hot labs.

* * *

The ride down to the hot labs was a little tense. Shepard and Wrex stood at the front of the elevator, both with guns at the ready. Wrex glared ahead of him, with Shepard mirroring his glance.

Neither of them paid attention to Liara behind them. In fact, the only one who took notice of Liara was Jodie. Liara looked up rather nervously, taking a deep breath in every so often. Jodie could see that Liara's grip on her assault rifle probably could have crushed fingers under the right circumstances. Jodie also saw the way the asari's eyes darted about nervously, never settling on any part of the elevator for more than a second before she turned her gaze to something else. Every few seconds, she would even close her eyes and take a deep breath. None of it was calming her down.

Jodie looked over and nodded, placing a comforting hand on the asari's arm. Liara looked at Jodie. "It'll be all right, Liara," Jodie replied. "Trust me, we'll be right here."

Liara nodded, swallowing a lump in her throat as her expression became neutral again. "You're right," she said. "Sorry."

Jodie gave her a comforting smile. "Don't be," said Jodie. She then patted Liara on the shoulder, looking to the elevator door and taking a deep breath.

After a short while, the elevator stopped. "Here goes nothing," said Jodie.

It was then that Aiden gave a rather angry click. Jodie looked up suddenly, frowning at Aiden's intrusion.

_What do you mean, she's not-?_

Before Jodie could finish her thought, the elevator doors opened to a large room. The group of them filed out, their weapons raised.

But as they filed out of the room, they slowed down, Jodie eventually coming to a stop as she lowered her assault rifle. The large room was rather empty, the only objects within being scattered furniture. Sitting on one of the only pieces of furniture that did not get knocked over was a human man, who looked up in surprise at the group that burst in. He slowly stood up, his arm shaking somewhat.

"Are... Are you here to secure the situation?" the man asked, a slight Russian accent coloring his words.

Shepard frowned, and then looked over at the man. "Secure the situation?" he asked. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"The rachni," the scientist said. "They took over this lab a few days ago."

Wrex frowned, lowering his weapon. "Huh, that's funny," he said. "I thought there was an asari matriarch in here."

The scientist tilted his head. "Matriarch Benezia?" he asked. "No no, she only stepped into the hot labs once. The rest of the time, she was supervising something else..."

The group then looked at each other, frowning. Jodie looked over to a door at the end of the room. "And she's not in there?" Jodie asked, pointing at the door in question.

"No," said the scientist. "I am the only person left in the hot labs. The labs were locked down due to the rachni."

Shepard then looked back at the elevator, his frown intensifying. His teeth ground together, and the only expression he could muster was a rather angry glare at Jodie.

"I  _knew_ it," he said darkly as he turned his gaze from Jodie. "I  _knew_ I couldn't trust that security person. He's probably deep in Benezia's pocket."

Liara closed her eyes, shaking her head as Wrex stamped his foot. "Well, I guess we know who's going to get killed tonight," he commented dryly. "I still get the killing blow, though."

"Maybe," said Shepard. He then looked around. "I guess it's too late to back out?"

"No, but there is something you can do," said the doctor as he stood up. "There is a neutron purge that can be set off within the hot labs. It will create bursts of neutron radiation that will kill  _everything_ in the lab.  _Everything_. Beyond that, there may be some genetic damage."

Jodie frowned, glancing over at Aiden. "I don't like the sound of that," she said. She ignored Aiden's rush of clicks that followed, looking over at the scientist. "I mean, we'd be stuck here, right?"

"Not necessarily," the doctor replied. "There is a countdown before the purge starts. With luck, it should give you time to run to the elevator." He then looked around. "The rachni here are especially vicious. This is the only thing we can do to keep them from dropping bombs on this place."

Shepard nodded. "I guess that's a good point," he said. He then looked back at the elevator. "I imagine that something that dangerous has a code locking its function?"

The scientist nodded, pulling out an OSD. "I have the codes here," he said. He pointed to the door Jodie had indicated earlier. "There is a Mirra terminal in there from which I can activate the purge.

Shepard nodded. "Good," he said. "Give them to me. I can activate the purge in there." He then indicated the elevator. "You should stay by the elevator. I don't think the rachni will think to check in there, and you're unarmed as well." He then looked around. "The rest of you, stay with him."

Jodie frowned. "Sir?" she asked, lowering her weapon slightly.

"The rachni can attack at any moment," Shepard said. "I can activate the purge myself, and I can get out of there myself."

"Hmph, I think you're walking into something suicidal," said Wrex, cocking his shotgun. "I'm going with you."

Shepard frowned at Wrex's general direction, before sighing. "Very well," he said. He then looked to Jodie. "Holmes, Liara, take the doctor back to the elevator. Make sure he stays safe."

Jodie nodded. "Yes, sir!" she said. She then looked to the doctor. "Are you hurt?"

"I am fine, yes," he said. "I... It is a miracle I survived."

Liara looked at all the vent covers on the floor, bringing her arm behind the doctor as she gently began leading him to the elevator. "Well, we just have to make sure you keep surviving, Mister...?"

"Yaroslev," he replied. "Yaroslev Tartakovsky."

Jodie nodded as she pressed the call button on the elevator. "They've been quiet," she said, looking back at Shepard and Wrex as they passed through the door to the Mirra terminal.

"Their attacks are unpredictable," Yaroslev replied. The elevator doors opened, and then Yaroslev looked behind him. "Perhaps I can tell you more about the rachni when the purge has been activated."

"Maybe," said Jodie. She then nudged Yaroslev into the elevator. "Come on, we'll wait for Shepard in here."

Yaroslev entered the elevator, with Jodie and Liara both turning around. They slowly raised their weapons, standing in the elevator doorway. They mainly kept their eyes on the vents, looking around for some sign, either that Shepard had started the purge or that the rachni were incoming.

 _Aiden_ , Jodie thought.  _If you see anything in the vents, make sure you stop it, okay?_

Aiden clicked his agreement.

In the very next second, one of the vent covers was uprooted and flew right into a window behind it. The loud crash caused Jodie to flinch, but by the time the large spider crawled out of the vent, she was ready to fire volleys at it.

Of course, she was caught off guard by the sounds of the other vents rising from where they were bolted down. She ducked, her initial assault rifle sprays getting one or two of the green rachni on the ground. She let out a loud shout upon doing so, taking a second to reorient herself.

When she did, she saw the area was absolutely  _swarming_ with rachni. She took a deep breath, shooting in the first direction she could think of. This caused a few of the small green spiders to explode on the ground, the acid eating away at the metal immediately. Jodie turned her attention right to one of the large rachni after this, shocked at how close it was.

Before she could react any more, though, she watched as that rachni and a couple of the green ones were lifted into the air, their bodies surrounded in blue aura. She looked to Liara briefly before shooting at the large rachni that was suspended in the air. She squinted, immediately turning her attention to another large rachni that was in the room closer to Liara, firing off a few assault rifles.

She was caught off-guard when that rachni was promptly thrown away from the center of the room, crashing against the window behind it. Jodie turned to see Shepard and Wrex fighting their way through, Wrex glowing blue as he turned and shot at one of the large rachni with his shotgun. Shepard followed behind quickly, leaping over one of the large spiders and shooting it in its large head as he went. He twirled around Wrex, shooting at another of the miniature green rachni.

Jodie was brought back to reality by the slam of a tentacle against the elevator doors. She let out a loud scream, looking over to her right to see one of the large rachni close by. Yaroslev let out a cry of shock, but before anyone could act Liara had already acted, the spider glowing blue as it floated away. Jodie blindly fired at it, causing the rachni to fly back into the room, the tentacles harmless.

It was then that Wrex barrelled into the elevator. He fired his shotgun a final time at an approaching rachni, causing the insectoid being to reel back. Shepard jumped into the elevator shortly thereafter, turning right to the holographic call button and closing the door behind him as soon as he had entered.

The doors closed quickly, Liara throwing a last biotic attack to ensure the rachni did not enter the elevator while it was still in operation.

And then, everyone got to breathe out a sigh of relief.

"Good, it is taken care of," said Yaroslev. He then looked to Shepard. "I did not think I would leave that place alive. Thank you, Commander."

Shepard nodded. "We're not out of the woods yet," he said. "Do you know where the matriarch is?"

"Not precisely," Yaroslev replied. "But I can tell you where I  _think_ she might be, if not the hot labs."

"Any help would be appreciated," said Shepard. He then glared at the elevator door. "Especially after the other one lied to us."

And with this, the rest of the elevator ride proceeded in silence. Jodie checked her firearm again, and then looked back at the elevator doors.

After a few seconds, the elevator arrived at the top of its circuit, and then the doors opened.

Jodie saw the captain from earlier standing in front of her. He had his two security personnel behind him, but further than that she saw a line of three asari in armor. Liara gasped upon seeing them, an action Jodie barely registered as she positioned herself in front of Yaroslev. Shepard simply stepped forward, Wrex standing immediately behind him.

"She wasn't in there," Shepard said plainly to the captain. "But then again, I never had to tell you that, did I?"

"I'm under orders from Matriarch Benezia," the captain replied. "I was to get rid of any nuisances." He shook his head. "I had no choice, Commander." He then tilted his head to the side. "How are you still alive, anyway?"

"Lots and lots of pesticide," Shepard replied. He then raised his assault rifle at the captain. "Unfortunately, I'm all out of pesticide, so I'll have to deal with the next best thing to get to the matriarch."

With this, Shepard fired his assault rifle without warning. The mass accelerator rounds tore right through the captain of the guard, his body falling to the ground with at least six holes in it.

That was when the others opened fire. Jodie quickly shoved Yaroslev into the corner of the elevator, pushing him until he hit the wall. She drew her pistol quickly, firing rapidly at both of the two security guys behind the captain. One of them went down quickly due to someone else's fire, but before Jodie could finish off the other one her gun beeped loudly, and she found herself forced to draw back into cover.

As she did this, she saw Wrex laughing loudly, blasting his shotgun at one of the armored asari in front of him. However, before Wrex could do much more, Jodie watched as he was then launched back a few feet by a biotic attack, the large krogan hitting the wall just above the elevator. Wrex dropped back to his feet, his barriers taking a few hits from the gunfire as Shepard rushed in to fill in the void left by the krogan. Liara fired at the three armored asari as well, coming out of the elevator quickly.

Jodie nodded, grabbing Yaroslev as her pistol signaled that it had cooled down enough to use again. "Keep your head down," she said.

Jodie then rushed out of the elevator, pulling Yaroslev with her. She then pushed him in front of her, ushering him to a nearby crate. She fired a few rounds at the asari as they rushed in.

It was then that she saw the first geth trooper rush into the room.

Jodie slid into cover behind Yaroslev, a round barely impacting against cover just above his head. Jodie popped her head out, and then breathed in nervously.

"Okay," she said. "Where to from here?"

"To the right," Yaroslev shouted, pointing ahead of him. "Where you see those geth coming out!"

Jodie nodded, noting that there were several more geth troopers coming out of there. She then looked to Shepard, who was towards the front of the room. "Shepard, we have to push through them!" Jodie shouted.

"Got it!" Shepard shouted. "Liara!"

Liara then unleashed a biotic attack that sent all the geth flying up instantaneously. Jodie grabbed her pistol, shooting one of the geth until it flipped in mid-air after a shot to its synthetic head. Jodie nodded, looking around the room and shooting at one armored asari. The asari retaliated by glowing blue, but Jodie ducked behind cover before the asari could unleash it. She heard reality warp around the front of her cover for a second, and then Jodie popped back out of cover and fired a few more shots at the asari.

The asari was too distracted by Jodie to notice Wrex running up to her. By the time she did, however, Wrex had fired his shotgun, the asari flying back against the wall.

Jodie then turned to the geth, noticing as the last of them was gunned down by Shepard. She then nodded, grabbing Yaroslev by the arm. "Come on!" she said.

Jodie and Yaroslev then advanced forward, Shepard and Liara following very quickly. Wrex caught up to Jodie as they passed through the corridor, and then they were back at the tram station.

"Wait, I thought we were going to find Benezia, not go back home," Wrex commented.

"Yes," said Yaroslev. He then ran over to a door that Jodie had seen earlier, but had noticed was red. Yaroslev then pointed at the door. "This door is the one we need."

"Well, it's locked," said Shepard.

Yaroslev nodded. "There should be an access code," he said. "Let me enter it, and-"

The sound of mass accelerator fire immediately interrupted the mood. Yaroslev immediately ducked, and Jodie thought she could see Aiden's protective shimmer over him.

"Fuck!" Jodie immediately grabbed Yaroslev and pushed him in front of her, until they had gotten to the other side of a row of seats nearby. Jodie deposited Yaroslev, and then moved to a different cover herself. She fired off a few shots from her pistol at the geth troopers that were storming in through the place they had exited from, and Jodie recognized one of the captain's other officers.

She quickly switched to her assault rifle, firing at the geth troopers as they advanced into the room. As soon as she did this, she popped out of cover, firing at the incoming geth. She had managed to take one out with the help of pistol fire from Liara before her barriers immediately died. She ducked back behind cover, looking over at Yaroslev as he kept his head in his hands. She faintly noticed that Aiden's protective aura was still around him, though she doubted Yaroslev or anybody else was taking any notes.

 _Okay,_  said Jodie.  _You can keep him protected._

Jodie popped out of cover as soon as her armor beeped again. She took aim at another of these asari, firing a few rounds. Jodie watched the asari turn towards her, a sneer forming on her face.

Before Jodie had any time to react, she found herself flung out of cover. She let out a loud cry of pain, her back hitting a railway directly behind her. Jodie was left dazed, but the adrenalin took over and she immediately stood as quickly as she could. As the asari advanced toward her, she raised her assault weapon, unleashing a torrent of rifle fire against the asari.

This took the asari's barrier's out, but before she could deliver any kind of a final blow, the asari brought her arm forward again. This time, she was pushed onto the wall behind the railing, and Jodie let out a loud gasp as she tumbled down the wall. The asari got a few shots in to take out Jodie's barriers, and as Jodie fell to the floor she felt a sharp pain in her lower left leg.

Jodie let out a loud hiss of pain as she hit the ground. Nevertheless, the adrenalin had kicked in by then: she would get the medigel on later. For right then, there was Yaroslev to worry about.

Gritting her teeth, Jodie pushed out from underneath the walkway, her assault rifle aiming straight at the asari commando. She then unleashed a hail of bullet fire, getting the asari's attention. One or two rounds bounced off of her kinetic barriers, and then Jodie saw a few holes form a line up the asari's torso. The black blood flowed freely as the asari fell back, a shocked expression on her face as she dropped her weapon.

Jodie grunted, pulling herself back onto the main level. She noticed that the fight was dying down as she did, and then she let a hiss as her leg cried out in protest. Yaroslev was immediately next to her, his omni-tool open as he administered a dose of medigel to her leg.

The effect soothed the pain in her leg to a dull ache, and Jodie let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks," she said.

Yaroslev nodded. "It was the least I could do for saving my life," he said. He then looked back, watching as the last of the geth troopers was taken out by gunfire from Shepard. "Come on. I have a code to enter."

Jodie nodded, and then stood up. She winced at the increased pain she felt walking upon the injured leg.  _Aiden, remind me to go to Dr. Chakwas later_ , she thought as she walked over to Shepard, Liara, and Wrex.

Liara was instantly over to Jodie. "Are you all right?" she asked.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Jodie replied. "Just got a little banged up, and a shot to the leg." She indicated Yaroslev. "He had medigel on standby."

"Good," said Shepard. He then followed Yaroslev to the door. As Yaroslev began inputting the code, Shepard looked at the door. "I'm going to assume Benezia is this way?"

"There is a straight corridor that will lead to a large containment facility," he said. "The original rachni queen we found should be there. If Benezia were anywhere, she would be there."

Shepard nodded. "Can we expect any more rachni?" he asked.

"We always took her eggs away from her when they hatched," said Yaroslev, tapping away at a holographic keypad next to the door. "All the eggs were taken to the hot labs. So there should be no problem there."

"And it would be dangerous for a civilian to be in the line of fire if Benezia fights back," said Shepard. He then indicated the tram. "We've cleared out the rachni in the main garage of Peak 15. Take the tram, and stay put."

Yaroslev nodded. "Of course," he said. He then tapped the keypad, and the hologram over the door turned green. "Be careful. I expect Benezia will not like it when you go to her."

And with this, the doctor turned to the tram, quickly getting over there. Shepard and the others watched him, watching as he entered the vehicle. As the vehicle pulled out of the station, the remaining members of the group turned to each other.

"Well, we're here," said Wrex. "So are we going to just stand here?"

"No," said Shepard. His hand then balled into a fist, his hand going through the green hologram. "Keep alert, we may run into additional resistance on our way."

The door opened, with Jodie and Wrex taking point. As they raised their weapons, though, they saw no resistance through the completely straight corridor.

"Come on," said Shepard as he walked past Jodie and Wrex. "Benezia is probably waiting for us by now."

* * *

The group proceeded without any further incident. The corridor was indeed rather empty, and Jodie swore that the walk to the other end was longer than it actually was. Whatever the case, this time she was sure they were headed in the right direction.

It was such that they came to the door at the end of the corridor. Aiden chirped once, the chirp short but quite resonant. She nodded, and then looked to Shepard as h drew his firearm. He stood by the door, gesturing to Liara. Liara nodded, approaching the door. Jodie saw Liara's nervousness settle in, though this time Jodie could see the beads of sweat on the asari's forehead. Jodie glanced at Wrex as she took a place beside Shepard, with Jodie looking at the door. She felt her heart beat a little faster, the anticipation made worse this time by the fact that this actually was the room.

But nevertheless, she nodded to Shepard, as did everyone else. And with this, Shepard opened the door, the four of them entering the room immediately.

They found themselves in a large chamber with a walkway all around the perimeter. In the center of the room was a giant container holding what Jodie realized was the largest of these large spiders they had yet discovered. She looked at it in awe, watching as it seemed to struggle within its glass container.

And then, a figure up a flight of stairs immediately in front of her caught her attention. Jodie looked up, seeing an old asari standing there. She was clad in lengthy black robes and a black headdress, which gave her an air of seriousness. Her gaze was trained on the large contained rachni, and from what Jodie could see of her expression it remained neutral and emotionless.

"You do not know the privilege of being a mother," the asari began, her voice low and reverent. "There is power in creation. To shape a life. Turn it toward happiness and despair."

The old asari paused, looking back at the contained rachni. "Her children were to be ours," she continued. "Raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies."

Shepard looked over at the rachni queen, but before he could say anything else, the old asari turned towards him, taking a few steps towards the top of the stairwell. Jodie looked as the old asari's gaze turned towards Liara, her features forming into a scowl. "I won't be moved by sympathy," said the matriarch. "No matter who you bring to this confrontation."

Jodie frowned, and then looked to Liara. The earlier nervousness was gone from the younger asari, replaced by something Jodie could not pin. "He didn't force me to come here, mother," said Liara, her voice a little shaky but firm enough to get her point across. "I came here of my own will."

"I actually almost told her not to come," said Shepard. "Turns out I was right to let her come with."

"Oh?" The matriarch looked at Liara. "What have you told him about me, Liara?"

And then, Liara took a step forward. "What could I say, mother?" she asked, her voice raised slightly. Jodie could see the beginnings of tears in the asari's eyes, her arms coming up in anguish. "That you're insane? Evil? Should I tell him how to kill you?" Liara took a few breaths, closing her eyes and taking a very shaky breath. "What  _could_ I say?" _  
_

Benezia scowled at her daughter, and then turned to Shepard. "So nothing, then," she stated. "I expected as much." She scowled, looking at Shepard. "You do not think I came alone, do you?"

"Well, unless my eye prescription changed within the past hour, I would say I've noticed by now," Shepard replied. Jodie had to fight the urge to crack a smile as he said this, but one look at Liara caused Jodie to lose all will to smirk at the quip. "How many more geth have you got?"

"Not geth. There are others as well," Benezia replied, looking down at Shepard. "Tell me, Commander; have you faced an asari commando unit before?"

Shepard frowned. "Can't say I have," he said. "And knowing what I know about them, I can't say I want to."

"A sentiment shared by many humans," Benezia replied. "In your case, I believe you will discover why those that do tend not to live to tell the tale."

Jodie glanced at Liara in shock, before looking at the matriarch. "You'd kill your own daughter?" Jodie asked in shock.

But Benezia simply looked at Liara with a look of sick glee. "I now realize I should have been  _stricter_  with her..." the matriarch replied.

And then, without warning, the matriarch brought her arm back, glowing a deep purple as she then extended her hand. Shepard had already moved, but before he could raise his weapon to shoot Benezia he was surrounded in a blue aura that froze him in place. Jodie knew almost immediately from Aiden's distressed trill that he was not responsible, and as she realized this she looked up at Benezia in shock.

Before she could do anything else, however, she then heard doors open all around. When she turned to look at them, she saw teams of asari commandos come running out, guns at the ready. They wore armor much like the asari the group had fought in the tram station, and their weapons were much the same. Jodie looked around in time to see that they were coming from three other entrances all around the perimeter, and they looked ready for action.

Jodie immediately ran for cover, pushing herself against a crate. She watched as Liara and even Wrex did the same, the three of them eyeing their opposition.

Wrex simply chuckled, turning to Liara. "Bringing the fight here?" he asked. "I like your mother already!"

Jodie's eye twitched as Wrex said this, but before she could say much else she heard reality warp just past her cover. "Less quipping, more fighting!" Jodie shouted. She then popped out of cover, raising her assault rifle as one of the asari commandos came out of cover.

She fired a few rounds at the commando, her aim steady and sure. However, before she could take down the asari's barriers, the commando in question glowed blue. Jodie immediately ducked, a warp flying right over her head. Jodie then looked right at the commando as she advanced, turning to look at a second commando behind the first. Jodie turned her attention, hearing Wrex come out of cover while cocking his shotgun. As she heard the shotgun's sharp report go off, Jodie fired a stream of fire at the second commando.

She was then violently thrown to the side, crashing into Liara from the sudden force. Jodie took a few seconds to gain her bearings, and then found herself scrambling to her feet as a pair of asari commandos came rushing in from the staircase where the exchange with Benezia had occurred. Jodie ended up leaving her assault rifle behind, immediately seeing she was close enough. As her shields failed on her, Jodie drew her combat knife, holding it in a reverse grip with the edge out. Summoning all her strength, she lept forward, slashing at the asari commando. When she heard a faint gurgle from the first commando, she knew she had successfully taken out one of them.

The second one of that group of commandos was not taking any chances. Before Jodie could get close, she found herself pushed back. Jodie let out a grunt as her back hit the rail, her grip on her combat knife unrelenting. Jodie watched as the asari brought her hand back again, but was only able to roll out of the way with some labor before a warp dented the top of the railing behind her. Jodie grunted, pushing herself to her feet as quickly as she could, leaning forward slightly and ignoring the pain in her shoulders. She stumbled forward, swinging her knife out.

The knife motion missed, but before the asari could retaliate a shotgun burst sounded from behind her. Jodie looked at Wrex, whose expression seemed rather neutral.

Jodie paid it no attention, though. She ran over to where she and Liara had been, and it was then that she noticed that Shepard was finally free of the biotic stranglehold Benezia had him in. As Jodie watched him advance towards another group of two asari commandos, she lept back into cover, recovering her assault rifle quickly and sheathing her combat knife. Jodie flattened her back, and then looked back at the staircase just in time to see an asari commando rush towards them.

Jodie unleashed a hail of assault rifle rounds at the asari, the shields breaking immediately and a few rounds striking true. Jodie immediately turned around just in time to see Shepard shooting his assault rifle at a geth that had just appeared.

"Shit, we've got geth too?" Jodie muttered under her breath.

She glanced at Liara from where she and Wrex were handling the flank from the staircase where their conversation with Benezia took place. She then glanced at Shepard, before turning her attention back to the geth down the walkway on the perimeter. She primed her assault rifle, firing a blast right of fire at a geth. Her weapon beeped almost immediately, but Jodie remained calm as she ducked back behind cover and waited for her gun to cool down.

While she did, she heard something explode from behind her. Looking over, she immediately frowned as she saw the last of the sparks rain down from one of the geth's weapons. She glanced up at Aiden, who chirped a few times in glee.

 _Aiden, quit monkeying around,_  she thought.  _They're going to catch on!_

Before she could properly chew him out for it more, though, Jodie saw that geth unit get taken down by Shepard. As the Commander fell behind cover, Jodie's weapon beeped, and then she found herself to face another group of geth as they rained out on her.

"You have any idea what that was?" Shepard asked.

Jodie shrugged, shooting at the geth on the other end of the walkway. "Hell if I know," said Jodie. "Probably a lucky break."

"Probably," said Shepard. He then turned, not saying anything more as he fired his weapon at the incoming geth.

Aiden chirped guiltily, but Jodie paid it no mind, her concentration focused entirely on the battle around her. Geth and asari commandos alike swarmed their position, but for the most part the group was able to fend them off reasonably well. The stream of geth and asari commandos seemed endless, though they were thankful that Benezia herself had almost no part in the conflict. Thankfully, Aiden had backed off after Jodie's initial protest, but even so Shepard and Jodie were able to fend off their wing of the offensive reasonably well.

Eventually, Jodie began to notice a slow-down in the arrival of units. Single geth or single asari commandos would come around, or there would be lengthier intervals between the appearance of the next enemy. She found herself able to dodge fewer biotic attacks, which came as a blessing for her. Jodie was not sure how much more she could stand being thrown about like a rag doll.

 _Well, I guess I know how some of the things you've dealt with feel about that now,_  Jodie thought at one point. Aiden replied with an amused click, but they both turned their attention back to the battle pretty quickly.

Eventually, though, the influx of commandos and geth into the room slowed to a stop. As soon as this occurred, Jodie, Shepard, and the others all looked straight for Benezia, who had not moved an inch since the battle began. Jodie and the others immediately ran up the steps, raising their weapons at the matriarch.

Benezia simply looked at them, but there was something different in her gaze. It was certainly still soulless, but as Jodie looked more intently, she thought she could make out something trying to bubble up from underneath that surface. This made Jodie pause, though her weapon was still raised at the matriarch. Benezia regarded the group, taking a step towards the tank rather calmly.

"This is not over," she said. "Saren is unstoppable. My mind is filled with his light. Everything is clear."

Shepard snorted. "Ma'am, my bathroom mirror is clearer than your mind right now," he said. "And last I checked, he was not exactly Jesus the Savior either."

Benezia turned to Shepard. "Your crass attempts at humor will not sway me," she said. "I will not..." And then, Jodie watched as Benezia's facade was slowly broken through. "You will..."

And then, Benezia let out a gasp of breath, and her eyes widened. She took a few short breaths, uncharacteristic for someone such as her. Her eyes scanned the area quickly, looking all around her at the bodies of the commandos and the geth that were strewn about the perimeter. She then turned back to Shepard, her eyes wide in fear.

"You must listen," she said, her voice sounding much more fearful than before. "Saren still whispers in my mind. I can fight his compulsions. Briefly. The indoctrination is strong."

"Indoctrination?" Shepard asked, looking confused.

"Yes," said Benezia. "You must understand, Commander, people are not themselves around Saren. You come to idolize him. Worship him. You would do anything for him..." She took a sharp breath in, stumbling forward slightly. "And it occurs regardless of what you truly think of him."

Jodie frowned, looking over at Shepard before turning her attention back to the Matriarch. "And why should we trust you?" asked Jodie. "You tried to  _kill_ us just a few seconds ago!"

"You do not understand," the Matriarch said. "Saren... I joined him to attempt to sway him away from his path. But his influence is strong." She looked down.

"So you're lucid right now," said Shepard. "But you could turn on me."

"Yes," said Benezia. "But it would not be my own will." She then glanced at Liara. "Much as attacking my own daughter would not be my own will."

"Mother!" Liara gasped out. As Jodie turned to look at Liara, she saw Liara fighting to hold back tears as she looked at the Matriarch.

Benezia shook her head. "I do not have much time," she finished. "I sealed a part of my mind away from the indoctrination. I saved it for a moment such as this, but it will not last long. I have information that can help you."

Shepard looked at Benezia, and then lowered his weapon. "So first questions first: what do you think is causing this indoctrination?" he asked.

"I believe the key is is flagship, Sovereign," she said. "It is a massive dreadnought of extraordinary power."

"I've seen that flagship on Eden Prime," said Shepard. "It didn't look like anything I'd ever seen. You know where it came from?"

"No," said Benezia. "The geth did not build it, and its technology is so far beyond what any race in this galaxy is capable of." She shook her head. "The longer you stay aboard, the more you come to agree with Saren. It is subtle at first. I thought I could resist." She shook her head. "You have seen the results of my folly."

"Indeed," said Shepard. "What were you sent here for?"

"I was sent to find the location of the Mu Relay," Benezia said. "Its position was lost thousands of years ago."

"The Mu Relay?" asked Shepard.

"I've heard of it," said Liara, walking forward. "A nearby star went supernova, and the shockwave pushed the relay out of position. The nova eventually enveloped the relay, so it's impossible to determine the vector and the speed."

Benezia looked at Liara in surprise. "Indeed you have, Little Wing," she said, a light smile coming to her lips. She then looked at Shepard. "Two thousand years ago, the rachni inhabited that region of the galaxy. They discovered the relay. The rachni can share memories across generations. Queens inherit the knowledge of their mothers."

"So this rachni queen had what you needed," said Shepard. "I'm guessing you melded with the rachni for the location of the relay."

"I did," said Benezia. She then rushed over to a control panel behind her, grabbing something from it and running back to Shepard. "Here." She quickly grabbed Shepard's free hand. "I transcribed the data onto this OSD, take it!" She shook her head. "You must hurry. I already sent the coordinates to Saren before you arrived. But now that you have the coordinates of the Mu Relay, perhaps you can stop him."

"Knowing the relay's coordinates won't be enough," said Wrex. "Where was he going?"

"I do not know," said Benezia. "Saren did not share that counsel with me. You must find out quickly."

Benezia then lurched forward, letting out a strangled cry. Liara immediately bounded forward, catching her mother in her arms. Benezia could only look up at Liara, and then she turned to Shepard.

"There is one other thing," she said. "Once Saren takes hold, I may never come back again. The indoctrination is irreversible."

Liara's eyes widened, and then she looked at her mother. "Mother, no!" she said, the first of her tears spilling down her cheeks. "You can't... Maybe there's some way we can stop Saren from doing whatever it is he's doing. Maybe there's-"

"No." Benezia looked at Liara, her own eyes welling with tears. "There is no way. I will never entirely be myself again..." She looked to Shepard. "You must end it for me. Saren will inhabit my mind forever. Better to end it now before I can serve him further."

"Mother, no!" said Liara loudly.

But Benezia turned to Liara, her expression almost serene. She brought out one of her hands, gracing it over Liara's cheeks. "Little Wing..." she said tenderly. "I know I have not been the best mother lately. I apologize for that. But know that I am proud of everything you have accomplished." She then glanced down, before looking at Liara. "But I cannot return to how I was before. You must realize this, correct?"

Benezia cringed, her neck tensing and her hand putting a little pressure on Liara's neck. Liara tensed, looking at her mother unsure of how to react. Jodie, who had stowed her assault rifle by then, pulled her pistol out, aiming it right at Benezia.

But after a few seconds, the pressure on Liara's neck subsided, and then Benezia sank to her knees. Liara could only stand there, looking down at her mother as her mother looked at her with exhaustion.

"I cannot fend him off for much longer," she said. "You must end it. Now. You have seen what I can do under Saren, Little Wing. You cannot let it continue. I will never be myself again. This is something which must be done."

Liara paused, looking at Shepard and the others for a few seconds. The asari's cheeks were wet with tears, and Liara could only sniffle as she turned her attention back to Benezia's forlorn expression. Liara hesitated for a few seconds as Benezia tensed again, squeezing her eyes shut as if trying to fight with the last vestiges of her will.

Finally, Liara nodded, looking at Shepard. "Make... Make it painless," she said. "Please."

Shepard nodded, grabbing his own pistol from his hip. The Commander nodded to Wrex, who stepped towards Liara. Liara simply knelt at Benezia's level, offering a final hug to her mother.

"Good night, Little Wing," Benezia whispered comfortingly. "I shall see you in the dawn."

That was when Wrex grabbed Benezia by the shoulder. Benezia peeled away from Liara, the younger asari offering no resistance. Benezia simply looked on, before cringing again. Wrex was too strong to be stopped by Benezia, but Liara sniffled again upon seeing this from her mother.

Jodie bit her lower lip, looking up at where she assumed Aiden would be.  _Is there... is there something you can do?_  she thought.  _Anything at all...?_

But Aiden clicked morosely, followed by a long whoosh. Jodie nodded, looking down at the ground as her fists clenched.

 _Yeah, I know,_  she thought bitterly.  _I know, Aiden..._

Jodie shook her head as Shepard brought her pistol directly to Benezia's head. As the seconds ticked by, Jodie thought she could see Benezia return to the cold, blank facial expression she greeted them with upon returning. Her eyes had gone hard, though Jodie thought she could make out a very slight glaze in them.

Right as Benezia began to raise her hand, Shepard pulled the trigger. Benezia's body fell to the side, her hand dropping in front of her. After this, Benezia remained silent, though Jodie swore that she saw Benezia's expression go serene as her black blood began to flow out of her body.

Jodie looked over at Liara almost immediately, seeing the asari kneeling by with her eyes closed. Slowly, Jodie walked over to Liara, kneeling down to her level. Jodie gently placed her hand on Liara's shoulder, and when Liara did not flinch from the touch, Jodie settled it there.

Liara turned to look at Jodie, her eyes filled with sadness. Jodie nodded, coming around and pulling Liara into a hug. Liara could only react by leaning her head against Jodie's shoulder, with Jodie adjusting to allow Liara a more comfortable position. The asari sobbed quietly, sniffling every so often.

Jodie patted Liara's back a couple of times. "There, there..." she whispered quietly.

Jodie spent a few seconds comforting Liara, and then she looked past Liara's shoulder. Wrex watched the two of them with an indifferent expression. Shepard, meanwhile, walked closer to the container holding the rachni queen, though Jodie could not see his expression.

After a few seconds, they all heard a loud clatter. Jodie twitched, her head immediately turning to the source of the sound. As she heard Wrex draw his shotgun, Jodie turned to look at the asari commando that was limping towards them. Liara turned to look as well, her cheeks stained with the tears she had shed.

However, the asari commando simply lurched forward, stumbling past Wrex, Jodie, and Liara and walking straight towards Shepard. Shepard stepped back, looking at the asari. Jodie felt a shiver run down her spine as she looked at the state of the asari. By all rights, she should have been dead: her body was riddled with bullet holes, her gait was uneven...

The commando turned around then, opening her eyes. It was then that the rachni queen let out a loud cry, the call causing Aiden to release a rapid series of clicks. Jodie looked up, a frown settling on her features as she glanced at where she assumed Aiden was.

And then, her attention turned back to the commando, and it was only then that she noticed the commando's eyes were concentrated on a point beyond them. The commando's eyes were of course trying to face the Commander, but it was a difficult effort. Shepard stepped back towards the rest of the group, frowning at the commando.

Finally, she corrected herself, and began to speak. When she did, though, it was as though a thousand voices were speaking out of the same body:

" _This one serves as our voice. We cannot sing. Not in these low spaces. Your musics are colorless._ "

Jodie felt a thousand needles prick her skin all at once. She found herself having to bunch her toes up immediately to keep from showing any sign of alarm to anyone, and even then she found her eyes widening involuntarily.

 _What the- Aiden!_  she thought.  _Can that thing...? Is that the rachni queen speaking through...?_

Aiden unleashed another rapid series of clicks. Jodie found herself looking back at Shepard. He said something and the asari commando replied, but by then she had tuned out of the conversation somewhat. Her mind was racing with possibilities, her gaze turning to the rachni queen. The queen maintained its concentration on Shepard, but this did not quell Jodie's anxiety in any way.

She found herself fighting the urge to look at where she assumed Aiden would be. She knew that Aiden could not possess the dead, nor could he make them speak.  _Does that mean the rachni queen can see Aiden?_  she thought.  _I don't... Shit, what if she can...?_

Jodie then breathed in.  _There there, Jodie, it's all right,_  she thought.  _Maybe she can't see Aiden, or if she can she won't tell Shepard about it. Maybe she'll assume he knows or something. It can't be all that-_

"Jodie? Are you all right?"

Jodie jolted where she knelt, looking right at Liara in surprise. The asari was still very close to Jodie, and then she found herself looking to the side.

"Oh... oh, it's nothing," she whispered. "Sorry, I just got a little, um, surprised by that asari talking."

Liara nodded, looking back at the asari. "I was too," she said. "It's..."

"Yeah," said Jodie. "It is..."

Jodie then glanced to the side, before taking a breath to calm yourself.

 _Okay, Jodie, just calm down,_  she thought.  _Don't let them catch on. Not yet, anyway..._

And then she looked back to the asari, slowly getting to her feet as the conversation moved on.

" _You have dealt with our children_ ," said the asari. " _But before you leave, we stand before you. What will you sing? Will you release us? Are we to fade away once more?_ "

Jodie frowned, looking at the rachni immediately. Liara got to her feet as well.

"Wait, is she the last of her kind?" Jodie asked. "Right now?"

"Yes," said Shepard. "Well, unless you can somehow tell me that there are other labs in the galaxy with rachni, anyway."

Jodie frowned, but before she could say anything Wrex pointed above the tank. "You see those, Shepard?" he asked. "There are acid tanks above this queen."

Liara turned, looking at Wrex. "Acid tanks?" she asked. "You don't mean...?"

"Millions of my ancestors died to put these things down," said Wrex. "Don't let them come back."

Jodie turned to the krogan. "What?" she asked. "You want him to commit  _genocide?_ "

"The rachni nearly wiped out the whole galaxy," said Wrex. "If we hadn't stepped in, you wouldn't be standing here right now."

"But that is no excuse for genocide!" Liara immediately replied. She then indicated the rachni queen. "This rachni queen has done nothing to us."

"And besides, it can be reasoned with, right?" asked Jodie, indicating the asari. "I mean, here we are, it's not trying to attack us, it's trying to talk to us, and I just don't see how-"

"Enough, all of you!" Shepard stated as he turned around. The three squadmates looked at Shepard in surprise. Shepard looked quite determined, though Jodie thought she saw something in Shepard's eye. "I've made my decision."

Jodie frowned. "Already?" she asked. "Isn't that a fast decision?"

"It is, but I can think on my feet," he said. He then turned to the queen. "I can't commit genocide. I'll let you go free."

Wrex stepped forward, his foot coming down with such force that the floor panel he stepped on shook a little. "You'd let them go free?" asked Wrex. "Are you insane?"

"Am I in a straightjacket?" Shepard asked.

"Um... no?" Jodie asked.

"Is the answer to your question," Shepard replied, looking at the rachni queen.

" _You will give us the chance to compose anew?_ " the rachni queen asked. The asari that channeled the queen's voice stepped forward, the insectoid behind it crying out in pleasure. " _We will remember. We will sing of your forgiveness to our children._ "

"Great," said Wrex, sounding very annoyed. "Bugs are writing songs about you." He then shook his head. "Mark my words, Shepard. You'll regret this."

"I don't think we will," said Shepard as he walked over to the nearby control panel.

Shepard then fiddled with the control panel a little, looking at the various holographic icons as his fingers danced across them. After a few seconds, the group heard a loud mechanical sound. Before long, the group watched as the rachni queen's containment was lifted up to a higher platform above them. The commando's body slumped to the side, and then the rachni queen approached the end of its container. It spared a last glance at the group, and then a loud crash of glass was heard from the opposite side.

And then, the rachni queen scurried away quickly.

Jodie looked up, hearing Aiden gurgle somewhat. As Aiden did this, Jodie found herself looking at the spot that the rachni queen formerly inhabited.

 _Please tell me it couldn't tell you were there..._  she thought.

Aiden clicked once, the click sounding rather low. This was then followed by a gurgle, and Jodie sighed in relief.

 _Good,_  she said.  _Though, even if she did know, I guess she wouldn't have anyone to tell. Maybe._

And with this, Jodie nodded to Liara. The group stood there for a few seconds. "Well, let's get back to the ship," said Shepard. "We've got a  _long_ debrief ahead of us."

"That we do," said Wrex. "The Council's going to kick your ass over this. And for once, I won't blame them."

Shepard nodded, and then moved to exit the room they were in. Wrex followed, a certain quickness in his gait showing itself which was not there before. Jodie nodded, but before she took a step forward, she looked back to Liara. Liara took one final look at her mother, before closing her eyes and walking slowly towards the exit of the room.

Jodie fell into step next to Liara, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, if you need anything, let me know," she said.

Liara nodded. "Thank you, Jodie," she said.

And the two walked out of the room in silence.


	11. Chapter 10

As the tram pulled back to Peak 15 from the Rift Station, the group saw that Yaroslev was sitting on one of the chairs by the docking area.

As soon as the group exited, they looked at him in surprise. "Yaroslev?" asked Jodie. "What're you doing here?"

"Waiting for others," he said. "At any rate, I think it would be best to see the other doctors first, no?"

"True enough," said Shepard. "If it'll make you feel better, we'll send someone over here."

Yaroslev nodded. "That would be good, thank you," he said, bowing his head respectfully. "May you take care of yourself."

"And you as well," said Shepard.

And with this, the group continued onwards.

* * *

In the briefing room, the whole ground team remained seated, all of them looking at Shepard. Some of them looked at him with shocked expressions, while Liara, Jodie, and Wrex remained neutral. Jodie shifted awkwardly, giving an awkward smile across the room as Shepard looked calm and collected as always.

"You did  _what?_ " Ashley asked.

"Released the rachni, Ash," said Shepard.

Ashley shook her head, bringing her hand to her face. She let out a groan, turning to look back at Shepard. "I think that might've been a mistake, sir."

"I agree." Kaiden leaned forward, his features settling into a frown. "With all due respect, sir, how can we know they're not going to attempt to destroy the galaxy?"

Garrus leaned forward, shrugging. "Well, it's either that, or he singlehandedly commits genocide," said Garrus. "I would've let the Council handle it too."

"Exactly," said Shepard. "I was not going to commit genocide." He then looked up. standing up and pacing around. "Besides, they can be reasoned with. If they can be reasoned with, then who knows what can happen later on?"

" _Keelah_ ," Tali said. She then looked at Liara. "But at any rate, we have some idea of where Saren hopes to find the Conduit."

"Not completely," said Shepard. "We still need to verify his destination. And as of right now, I have no idea how we're going to find that."

"So I guess we'll just keep looking, sir?" asked Ashley.

"I guess we will," Shepard said. He then nodded to the rest of them. "For now, all of you are dismissed. I have a debrief with the Council."

Jodie nodded as the various people started filing out of the room. She counted herself amongst them, the dull pain in her leg reminding her that there was still business to take care of as related to her wounds.

 _And then maybe I can check in on the others while that is happening_ , Jodie thought.  _I hope Liara's all right_...

* * *

"And that should do it."

Jodie nodded as she rolled her pant leg over the wound. After this, she swung her legs over so they were hanging off the edge of the berth she sat on. "Thank you, doctor," she said, looking over at the elderly doctor. She then chuckled. "I'm surprised we didn't get more injuries on the ground."

"Well, sometimes you get lucky," said Dr. Chakwas as she patted the berth. "Though, some people have survived much worse." She looked out to the door leading to the mess hall. "Like Shepard."

Jodie rose an eyebrow. "Shepard?" she asked. "What did he do?"

"He had information downloaded into his brain by a Prothean beacon," Dr. Chakwas said. "I think he knows what it is, but I couldn't tell you what it was. He was out for fifteen hours..."

"Fifteen hours?" Jodie reared back, Aiden giving a shocked click. "Whoah..."

"Indeed," said Dr. Chakwas. "He kept me quite busy while I was trying to keep him stable."

"I see," Jodie replied. She then frowned, shifting slightly on the berth. "Wait, was this on Eden Prime?" she asked.

"Yes," she said. "From what I was told later, we were originally there to collect a Prothean beacon." She paused. "You  _know_ what those are, right?"

"Um..." Jodie frowned. "They're related to the Protheans?" She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."

"I guess it is not always common knowledge," she said. "Prothean beacons were left behind by the Protheans. They often contained important information." She shrugged. "Most of what we know about relay travel was left in Prothean beacons."

Jodie leaned forward. "Really?" she asked. "I see... And it downloads knowledge into your brain. And that's what happened with Shepard."

"Yes," said Dr. Chakwas. She looked up. "Things have not been the same since then, as you can likely tell."

"I guess so," said Jodie. She looked back to the door to Liara's quarters. "Do you think...?"

"She already has me," said Dr. Chakwas. "You already spoke to Liara, did you not?"

"I did," said Jodie. "It was only a few words, but I don't know if they were enough." She shook her head. "I feel for her. I mean, her mother was trapped in her own mind, and they had to kill her." Jodie blinked, looking back at Dr. Chakwas. "That... that can't have been easy for Liara. She'd probably take it really hard..."

"Perhaps," said Dr. Chakwas. "I can speak to her now, I suppose."

"Yeah, please do," said Jodie. "I think she'll need all the support she can get." Jodie then pushed herself off the berth. "I'll get going. You two could use a little privacy."  _Right, Aiden?_ she added.

As Aiden let out a low-pitched whine, Dr. Chakwas nodded. "Very well," she said. "I'll see you around, Jodie."

"You too, Doctor," Jodie replied.

And with this, Jodie exited the med bay.

* * *

Jodie sat morosely, looking at the energy bars she had become so accustomed to eating alone in the mess hall. She glanced at the container of energy bars before looking back to her own unopened energy bar. She knew it was time for her to eat, but she could not summon the appetite to eat. So, she stared at the energy bar, her hands flat on the table.

She sighed and closed her eyes. Her thoughts went back to Liara, about how she must have been grieving her mother. Jodie had seen her expression and the way it almost crumbled upon leaving the debriefing earlier, and it had looked rather forlorn. Jodie could not shake the expression from her head. Neither could she take her mind off of the way Benezia had called Liara "Little Wing". Jodie's mind kept on playing that particular moment over and over, not because she could not understand what it meant, but because the tone Benezia had used was familiar.

In fact, for Jodie Holmes, it was almost  _too_ familiar.

Jodie shuddered, looking away from the table as her thoughts turned to her own birth mother. Jodie had only seen Norah Gray for a few minutes in real time, but those few minutes felt like an entire lifetime, even after hindsight had kicked in. Jodie had never known her biological mother until she was an adult; Susan Holmes was a kind mother and Jodie had always known that Susan really did care about her despite what Phillip Holmes might have said, but Jodie had always wondered who her birth mother was.

In some ways, Jodie wished she had not pried, never asked how she was. For then, she would never have seen Norah Gray propped in that chair, staring out into the world with vacant eyes. It had not been voluntary, Jodie knew: it was the government that had put her there, after all, given that Norah was considered too dangerous to allow to die or leave. Jodie hoped to whatever God existed that the drugs the DPA had given Norah Gray did not exist in this new universe; she would not wish her mother's fate on anyone.

Luckily for the both of them, Aiden proved he could punch through the drugs. But even  _that_ was temporary, and it only allowed for a conversation that lasted a minute. Jodie teared up as she remembered the conversation. Norah had sounded so...  _resigned_ to her fate. The way she spoke of it even when Jodie tried to be hopeful for her sake was just so forlorn. And the way Norah had spoken to Jodie, telling her how much she loved her daughter even though they were never a part of each others' lives...

Jodie shook her head, sniffling as she laid her head on the table. Benezia reminded Jodie of a Norah Gray; in Jodie's mind, the only difference was that Benezia at least retained her ability to speak. But the fact that Benezia had not been herself, that the way she spoke of her condition made it sound as though she were trapped in her mind, that she had used  _that tone of voice_...

Jodie sat back up, looking down at her chest. Slowly, she brought her hands over to the back of her neck, taking off a little necklace with a heart. It was the only memento Jodie had of her mother: it was a small locket that had been on her necklace at the time she visited. Jodie had never dared open it, and she certainly would not have wanted to, either. But it remained an ever-present reminder of her mother's love, even from that distance.

Faintly, Jodie hoped that Liara at least had something similar, even if it was not as obvious.

Aiden clicked, and Jodie looked up. He then whooshed rather grandly, and she could tell he was hovering around Liara.

Jodie nodded. "Yeah," she whispered. "Maybe I'll tell her about you some day..."

She then put the locket back on her neck, her hands looking back at the energy bar in question. She drummed her fingers against it, breathing in slowly.

"Oh! Hey Jodie."

Jodie blinked, looking behind her to see Ashley walking around the table. "Oh, hi Ashley," Jodie said. She adjusted slightly, chuckling as Ash looked at Jodie. "How're you?"

"I'm... I'm okay, I guess," she said, glancing at the med bay. "You mind if I join you?"

Jodie blinked. "Oh, um... sure," she said. She shook her head. "Sorry, I was just deep in thought."

Ashley looked back at the med bay. "Liara?" she asked.

Jodie nodded. "Yes," she replied.

"I see." Ashley closed her eyes, leaning her head forward. "I heard about what happened from Shepard. I..." She opened her eyes, glancing down at the floor. "I hope she's okay."

"I hope so too," said Jodie. "She... She took it pretty hard when we were there..."

"I know I would," Ashley replied. "It's never easy losing a parent, but knowing that her mother was not herself in her last hours..." She shook her head. "I can't imagine what she's going through."

Jodie sighed. "It's probably really hard," she said. "It's hard enough not being in contact with a parent for that long, but to find that they're not in control of their own minds..."

"It sucks." Ashley sighed. "I should probably go in there myself, say something. But I'm not sure what I  _should_ say."

"Neither am I," said Jodie.  _And not for the reasons you think, either..._  "Have you lost parents?"

"My dad," Ashley replied. "He was a good man. Always busted his ass to beat the Williams curse. He never did beat it, but he left a hell of an impact on me and my sisters. He was a good man. I still miss him every time."

Jodie frowned. "Williams curse?" she asked.

Ashley blinked. "Wait, you're not aware of the Williams curse?" she asked.

"N... not really," said Jodie. She then glanced to the side. "You're the only Williams I've ever met, and the only other Williams I've heard of was the general that surrendered at Shanxi to save lives."

Ashley tilted her head. "And  _there's_ the start of the curse," she said.

Jodie frowned, looking at Ashley intently. After a few seconds, however, her eyes widened considerably, and she leaned back in her chair.

"You're... You're related?" Jodie asked.

"General Williams was my grandfather," said Ashley. Her brows furrowed, and her hands bunched into fists. "So you know what happened on Shanxi."

"I have some idea," said Jodie. She shook her head. "I had no idea..."

"Well, Shepard only just found out about that," said Ashley. "Usually, when my superiors find out, I get shunned."

"So the Alliance doesn't like General Williams?" asked Jodie. "I..." She then glanced to the side. "That... doesn't actually surprise me all that much."

Ashley frowned, leaning forward. "Don't tell me you think they're right," she said, her voice edgier than usual.

"No no, I'm not saying that," said Jodie, waving her arms around. "I'm just saying that I could see people being...  _jerks_ about that." Aiden clicked once in agreement, with Jodie subtly nodding in reply.

"Oh," said Ashley. "I'm sorry. It's a constant fight whenever the superiors find out. They all have something against General Williams, and we've had to deal with it. My father never rose above Serviceman Third Class."

"Ah." Jodie bit on her lower lip lightly, before looking back at Ashley. "I guess this is your first post where you've seen action?"

"Hell yes," said Ashley. "My superiors kept me on ground postings thanks to my family name."

"Well, maybe when they see that you helped bring in a rogue Spectre, they'll change their minds," Jodie said.

"I can only hope," said Ashley. "I guess we'll see, but I'm not too hopeful."

Jodie shrugged, laying her hand on the table as she did. "Nothing wrong with having a little hope," Jodie replied.

"Maybe, but you never can tell," said Ashley.

"You'll see." said Jodie. She then looked at the ground. "Oh, and sorry. I know we were talking about your father and all that."

"Hey, don't be," said Ashley. "I at least have good memories of him, so it's nothing to be so worried about." She then looked over to the med bay. "And I think I know what I want to say to Liara now."

Jodie nodded as Ashley stood up. "You be careful with her," Jodie replied. "Trust me, this is tough for her."

"I'll do my best," said Ashley. She then nodded. "I'll see you around, Jodie."

And with this, Ashley left Jodie at the table, walking through the med bay.

Jodie glanced over at Aiden, who clicked at Jodie. Jodie nodded, giving him a faint smile.  _Sure. Just make sure Liara is okay, all right?_

She then turned her attention back to the energy bar on the table. Her heart felt a little less heavy than before, most of all with Ashley and Liara in the same room. Jodie had heard mutterings from Ashley, but she knew that the gunnery chief did not mean ill for Liara. And that on its own was enough for Jodie to feel a little better.

After a few seconds, Jodie grasped the energy bar. After some initial hesitation, she opened the bar and began to eat.

* * *

After her brief lunch, Jodie found herself stepping down to the Drive Core, and upon walking in she found Tali at her usual work station. Engineer Adams was off to the side as usual, with Tali at work at her station. Jodie approached, and as she did, Tali turned.

"Oh, Jodie," she said. "I thought you were J-Shepard."

Jodie raised an eyebrow as she came closer. "You almost spilled his first name there," she observed.

"W-well, he's the captain, isn't he?" Tali asked.

Jodie shrugged. "Tali, he's a childhood friend," she said. "I'm sure he won't mind if you call him John to anyone else."

"Maybe, but there's a respect involved there," said Tali. She shook her head. "He is my captain, Jodie. Even for a friend, I can't let that respect be broken."

Jodie nodded. "I see," she said. "Well, if you're more comfortable with that, then feel free." She then crossed her arms. "So how're you?"

"I'm fine," Tali replied. "I'm worried about Liara, though."

Jodie nodded. "I think she'll be all right," she said. "Though, I can't fault you for worrying. I am too, if I'm being perfectly honest."

"It's rough to lose a mother," Tali said. She sighed. "I know from experience."

"Really?" asked Jodie. "What happened?"

"The air filtration unit on our ship malfunctioned," Tali replied. "She wasn't the only one, but it hits hard."

Jodie nodded. "I'm sorry to hear it," she said.

"No, don't be," said Tali. "It's in the past now." She shook her head, glancing back to the drive core. "It was actually one of the few times I saw Shepard after I left Mindoir."

"Really?" asked Jodie as she leaned forward. "I can't imagine how that worked."

"Well, he took some leave to see me," Tali said, turning towards the drive core. "It was quiet, mostly, though I still don't know how he managed to come over. He must have pulled a lot of resources together."

Jodie walked over to the nearby railway, leaning against it as she turned to look at Tali. "And you never asked him where he got that?"

"It didn't matter," Tali said. "He was there, he wanted to make sure I was all right..." She chuckled, shaking her head. "Father was  _very_ annoyed about it, but I didn't care much. He was there, and that was all that mattered."

"I see..." Jodie nodded, crossing her arms. "At least you still have your father."

"My father... my father is a little detached," she admitted.

Jodie's eyebrows rose. "I guess he's a workaholic?" she asked.

"Something like that," said Jodie. "He is an admiral so I expect it sometimes, but there are a few times where I wonder..."

"Well, sometimes you have to be mindful," Jodie said. "It's the workaholics that care about you most, I think."

"I don't know, Jodie," said Tali. "It doesn't feel like it."

"Trust me, I know from experience." Jodie sighed, thinking back to Nathan Dawkins. "Sometimes the ones that care the most are the ones that're busy making it a better place. Take it from me."

"Your father was a... um..." Tali paused, awkwardly pointing at the floor. "Workaholic?"

Jodie chuckled. "Yeah," she said.

Tali chuckled. "It's a funny word," she said. "But... my question still stands."

"Well... My family situation was  _really_ complicated," said Jodie. "Basically, I was raised by a man named Nathan. He was..." Jodie paused, thinking back to the Nathan Dawkins of this universe. "He was a lab worker. Small time, nothing really notable. But he did what he could." She sighed. "In a way, I guess you could say he loved his family  _too_ much..."

Tali nodded. "I see," she replied, shifting nervously. "Maybe... Though I don't know. He seems so impersonal in our interactions..."

"Keep it in mind, at least," Jodie replied, pushing off of the railing. "Trust me. He might care more than you could possibly know."

Tali nodded, and then turned her attention back to the panel. "I'll keep it in mind," she said. Her finger touched a holographic button. "Hm... Energy output is a little decreased right now." She frowned, and then her fingers began flying across the holograms.

Jodie leaned forward. "What're you doing?" she asked.

"Checking the heat levels," said Tali. "It may be a heating issue."

"Really?" asked Jodie. She looked up at the drive core. "Hm, interesting. How does that work?"

Tali glanced up at Jodie, and from the way the eye lights were shining Jodie could tell that Tali was pleased Jodie had asked.

"Interesting you should ask," said Tali, looking down at her panel. "It's a rather complicated subject, and I'm still getting a grasp on it..."

"Why, is it related to the stealth systems?" Jodie asked.

"Yes, in a way," said Tali. "We don't need to be silent right now, but in a pinch..." Jodie saw some bars appear across the screen of Tali's display. She leaned closer, looking at the bars as numbers appeared. "Hm... Exactly as I thought. Heat output is abnormally high for now..." She shook her head. "Must be one of the scrubbers." She sighed. "Well, one of us will have to go in again."

"I take it it's a bad thing if the heat is too high?" Jodie asked.

"It decreases the time that the Normandy can store heat in stealth mode," said Tali. "And that can be rather bad." She then nodded. "This might take attention from me, so..."

"Oh, don't mind me, then," said Jodie. "I get to stand here and watch you work, don't I?"

"Oh?" Tali nodded. "Well then, I guess that is possible." She then turned to look at Engineer Adams. "Adams, I think our heat input is a little high right now!"

* * *

Jodie had found it fascinating to see just how much work went into dealing with a small error in the engine. She stood quietly by, watching the engineers work tirelessly. At one point, she knew that Aiden had wanted to intervene, but Jodie vetoed it, wanting to see how the process would be done without him. And it was quite fascinating for her to watch.

And it was thus that she walked out of engineering about half an hour later, feeling quite glad to have gotten at least some part of her curiosity about the universe's technology sated. Aiden grumbled rather loudly, but Jodie paid him no mind, walking out of engineering with a pretty good mood.

"Hmph, the runt seems a little happy."

And then Jodie's mood deflated somewhat.

"Oh hello, Wrex," Jodie said, looking at the imposing krogan where he was cleaning his shotgun right there on the floor. She looked down. "Ashley isn't doing that for you?"

"No," said Wrex. "I clean my own guns." He then glanced at the gunnery chief where she worked, before looking back at her. "I was expecting her to get mad about it, but she let me do it."

"Huh," said Jodie, rubbing her chin. "She does seem like that kind of person."

"Maybe," said Wrex. "She fights fiercely, though. She's as good as anyone born on Tuchanka." He grumbled. "Not that I would remember what that dump was like."

Jodie rose an eyebrow. "So you left Tuchanka a while ago, huh?"

"Several hundred years," Wrex replied as he began reassembling his shotgun. "Ever since, I've been running around this damn galaxy shooting things. It's been a good run so far."

"I see," said Jodie. "You mind if I sit?"

Wrex glanced at Jodie, and then grumbled. He then returned to his work, which left Jodie standing there confused for a second. Jodie nervously bent down, expecting a protest from the krogan.

And yet, as she got to her knees, Wrex remained silent.

"Oh... Thanks," said Jodie. She knelt next to the krogan, watching as he put the complicated shotgun back together. "So... why did you leave Tuchanka?"

Wrex tilted his head towards Jodie, his eyes narrowing slightly. He held this look for a few seconds. "It's touchy," he said. "I'm not telling the runt."

Jodie nodded, sitting down fully and pulling her legs close. "That's fine," said Jodie. "You don't have to answer that if you don't want. I'd... I'd be a hypocrite if I made you answer, actually."

"Huh, so you've had a rocky past too, hm?" Wrex asked. "Had to kill people you didn't think you'd have to? Or want to?"

"I... I guess you could say that," said Jodie, as she felt a wave of guilt rush through her. She glanced down at the ground, her eyes closing as her expression fell somewhat. "I've done things I'm not proud of, had encounters I would rather have not had... I've got plenty of regrets."

"Well, runt, join the club," said Wrex bluntly, holding the pump of the shotgun and fitting that piece in. "We've all done things we regret in this galaxy. Your case isn't special."

But Jodie shook her head, turning her attention back to Wrex as she scooted closer to him. "You wouldn't exactly say that if you knew everything about me," she said.

Wrex stopped what he was doing, and then glanced at Jodie as his slit-like pupils narrowed. "And what's  _that_ supposed to mean?" he asked.

"I'm..." Jodie took a deep breath. "I'm not like other people, Wrex. There are things about me that I don't feel comfortable talking about. They change everything about the way people look at me, and it's... it's also a little difficult to explain."

The krogan regarded Jodie with narrow eyes, his eye ridges furrowing as he remained stock still. "I'm going to guess it's not your height," he said.

Jodie chuckled bitterly, before looking at Wrex with a touch of fear in her eyes. "It's not," she replied.

"Hmph." He shrugged, and then finished assembling his shotgun. "It better not get in the way of Shepard killing Saren.  _That's_ when I'll start judging you."

Jodie let out a sigh of relief. "Then I don't think you'll have to worry about that," she said.

"Good," said Wrex. He then looked at the assembled shotgun, and then looked at her. "For a runt, you don't fight too badly."

Jodie looked at Wrex, surprise clearly visible on her face. "Really?" she asked.

"You didn't lose your head," he said. "Not completely, anyway. And you did get some good kills."

"I guess I did..." said Jodie, glancing down at the floor. "I'm not proud of that, to be honest."

"Well, it's something you  _should_ be proud of," said Wrex, hoisting the now-assembled shotgun and standing up. "You can fend for yourself in this fucked up galaxy. Be happy for that, at least."

And with this, the krogan walked towards the lockers, opening his locker and gently placing his shotgun inside.

Jodie sensed the conversation was over from the way he went to leaning against the lockers once he was done, and so Jodie stood up, glancing at him.  _What is it about krogan that they pride themselves on killing?_  she thought.

Aiden clicked once, to which Jodie could only nod in reply.  _Yeah, it's a little fucked up_ , she thought.

She then shrugged, letting out a rather rough sigh.

And that was when her omni-tool pinged with an extranet mail notification.

A smile immediately came to Jodie's face, and she walked straight for the elevator, opening her omni-tool and seeing that she did indeed have a new message from Kalo'Veera. She opened the message, and as she pressed the call button of the elevator, she began to read.

" _Jodie,_

_I apologize for the slightly delayed message. Business on the Citadel has been keeping me quite occupied lately. Perhaps not much time has passed for you, but for me, there have been a few things that have happened. Nevertheless, if you do not notice anything irregular with this message's timing, please do let me know._

_Ah, so it did not help your social interactions, this secret of yours? I see. I am beginning to see why you remain guarded about it, though I suspect that there is much more to the story than you have been telling. I must admit, my curiosity is beginning to get the better of me; I do sometimes wonder what this secret is that you speak about. I will reiterate that, despite my curiosity, I will let you move at your own pace. I would be a terrible man to give you anything but that._

_Hm... things I like to listen to... I do not know, honestly. On the Fleet, there is not much in the way of music, but being on the Citadel, I guess there are certain things I have found on the extranet through the years. Perhaps you can introduce me to something I may not have heard. If that works, then perhaps I could try it out for a spell, see what occurs._

_So she told you herself, then. I see. I suppose that Tali is quite close to Shepard. I have heard..._ rumors _, so to speak, that Shepard may not have approached Tali with entirely pure motives. There are some that suggest he befriended her out of some ambitions of greatness._

 _I cannot for the_  life  _of me imagine why that would be, nor even what ambitions they speak of_.  _Shepard befriended Tali as a sixteen-year-old man, no? I think it strange that an Alliance soldier would have ambitions with the Fleet before he even enlists, and I am sure you would too._ _I also know from her peers that Tali is a duty-bound quarian and that she will do what is right for the Fleet. I suppose those rumors are just old quarian prejudice speaking; many quarians frown on a relationship with another species. Do you know what their relationship is, and if so what is your take on it?_

_As for the transparency of the admirals... There are few secrets within the Fleet. I suppose that some of the admirals could do something in secret if they were desperate enough, but at the moment, I cannot think of any secrets they would keep from the Fleet. They are rather up-front, and even if they lie we are quite good at detecting the lie through body language. I suspect this has something to do with someone in your past, though it seems strange that you would hold it against a governing body of any sort. I will admit I am curious, but since you have indicated willingness to tell me on at least this front, I feel comfortable in asking you why that might be. So why do you ask?_

_Ah, so you have found a home? I see. I am glad that you have found this, though I suspect you know it is not a permanent position. What will happen once you have dealt with Saren? I imagine that a ship as diverse as the Normandy would eventually see people leave once the mission is done. What will you do?_

_So you have gone on a field operation? I am glad to hear it was a success. May the ultimate mission be successful as well._

_Keelah se'lai,_

_Kalo'Veera._ "

And then Jodie heard someone cough. As soon as she did, she whirled behind her, seeing Garrus Vakarian standing behind her.

"I don't suppose you wanted to get on the elevator earlier, did you?"

Jodie blinked, and then looked back at the elevator to see what Garrus was talking about. She immediately gasped, seeing that the elevator had come and gone without her.

"Oh!" Jodie blushed in embarrassment, chuckling awkwardly before hitting the call button again. "I guess I got a little too distracted."

"Definitely," said Garrus with a shrug. "I'm going to guess that was an email between friends."

"Very good friends," Jodie corrected, looking down at her omni-tool and closing it. "Oh dear..."

"Don't worry, I won't tell," said Garrus. "Not yet, anyway."

Jodie shook her head. She heard Wrex grunt off to the side, but Jodie paid it no mind, turning her attention back to the elevator.

She did not have to wait terribly long, though, for in a few seconds the elevator doors opened. Jodie stepped inside, her steps a little rushed as she pressed for the crew deck.

* * *

Jodie looked down at her omni-tool, looking at the quick message she had drafted. She leaned back against the mess table, looking at the brief message she had written to Xerxes:

" _Hey, Xerxes,_

_Everything is fine. I've been a bit busy, but everything is rather well in order. I've gone on a couple of field operations by now. One of them dealt with Matriarch Benezia, but I'm fine._

_Is everything all right with you? I mean, after the scare I gave you with everything that happened with the quarian and the evidence, I'm sure you were worried. But now that things are kind of back to normal..._

_Let me know about how things go when you can._

_-Jodie_."

Jodie read it over, and nodded upon reading it. She then quickly tapped the omni-tool, sending the message off quickly. She left off a smile as she sent it, and then looked over to Kalo'Veera's message.

She then opened the message, typing a reply rather quickly. She concentrated mainly on the message, looking to get it typed up rather quickly. After all, she knew exactly what she hoped to say to Kalo'Veera.

As she wrote the message, she heard footsteps approach from the side.

"Oh, hello Jodie."

Jodie glanced up to see Kaidan standing by the table she sat at. "Kaidan!" She chuckled nervously. "Don't mind me, I'm just typing here."

"Typing?" Kaidan asked. "It looks like an extranet message to me."

Jodie shrugged. "That's because it is one," she replied. "I'm writing to a quarian friend I made back on the Citadel."

"Oh?" Kaidan asked. "I'm going to guess he was on his Pilgrimage?"

"Still is," Jodie replied. "We've sort of kept in touch since I got on the Normandy."

"I see," said Kaidan as he sat down across from Jodie. "It must be nice to have a friend like that."

"It is," said Jodie. She paused, and then closed the message quickly. "Though I'm afraid I never really did the whole 'pen pal' thing much when I was younger."

Kaidan leaned back. "Oh?" he asked.

Jodie nodded. "I was always kind of...  _isolated_ as a child," said Jodie. "I'd never really had any luck making friends."

Kaidan's eyebrows rose slightly. "Hm, that sounds familiar," he said.

Jodie leaned forward. "What, you had the same problem?"

"A little," he admitted. "Ever hear of Jump Zero?"

Jodie shook her head. "I can't say I have," she said. "Remember, sheltered life."

"Fair enough," Kaidan said. "It was a biotic training facility, first of its kind for humanity. I was one of many kids that were sent up there. It was a little rough getting used to it, and..." He paused, glancing down to the side. "Things happened. Some very rough things happened."

Jodie looked at Kaidan intently, noticing the way his shoulders slumped.  _Hm..._  she thought.  _I see..._

Jodie nodded, glancing off to the side. "First Wrex, now you... I guess I'm not the only one who's got issues to sort out," she commented.

Kaidan looked up, his eyes shining as he leaned forward quietly. "I guess you had something like that too, hm?" he asked.

"I... Yes," said Jodie. She glanced up at Aiden. "It's a long story, but... I haven't had the best life. Even when living under a rock as long as I have." She paused, glancing to the side. She looked up at Kaidan after a little bit, drumming her fingers on the table. "There's something...  _different_ about me. It's singled me out for as long as I can remember."

"It has, hm?" Kaidan asked, placing his arms on the table. "Care to share?"

"I... I don't know if I should, yet," she said, shaking her head as her voice became quiet. "It's..." She then sighed, her shoulders slumping forward as she leaned over the table. "Maybe someday I'll talk about it."

Kaidan nodded, leaning forward. "Jodie, I..." He then shook his head. "Look, I think you're on the Normandy with good intentions, but I worry about all this."

"What makes you say that?" Jodie asked.

"Well..." Kaidan shrugged. "You're very  _secretive_. And I imagine the Alliance brass would find it alarming that some human girl that nobody knows anything about would come onto the most advanced warship in the Alliance Navy, especially one that's mysterious like you."

"I know," said Jodie, sighing. "I guess by now you know something about everyone else?"

"Yes," said Kaidan. "But you... you're the only one I can't find anything on."

Jodie frowned. "Wait, what?" she asked.

Kaidan tilted his head forward, looking at Jodie grimly. "As the XO of the mission, I'm sometimes tasked with doing Shepard's busy-work," Kaidan said. "As part of this, Shepard asked me to compile dossiers on everyone that he could send to the higher-ups. I've found something on almost everyone else on this crew. Quite a few things, in fact." He then leaned forward. "But you... I can't seem to find anything about you. The first record I can find is you on the Citadel."

Aiden clicked in alarm, and Jodie found that suddenly, the room had gotten quite warm. She felt a bead of sweat trickle down her forehead, but nevertheless she gulped. "I..." She then glanced down. "I see..."

Kaidan nodded. "Look, I believe you're here with good intentions, I really do," he said. "And based on what I've gathered, I don't think you're a threat to the mission. But I don't think the Alliance officials will see it that way once he turns these dossiers in to them. And if so..."

Jodie sighed. "I know," she said. "Is... is there a due date on these dossiers?"

"No," said Kaidan. "I actually don't know why that is, though. It seems odd that these important documents don't have a due date."

"That sounds  _familiar_ ," Jodie shot out, her voice sharper and more disdainful than usual. She shook her head, looking back at Kaidan. "Look, I... Even if I tell you, I... I don't know if you should put that information on those dossiers. I know it's important information, but I..." She closed her eyes, remaining completely still. "If the Alliance finds out about my secret, they may use me for their own ends. I can't let that happen."

"Use you?" Kaidan asked. "I don't think that'll happen."

"It has, and I feel like it will happen again," she said.

Kaidan frowned. "I think you should trust the Alliance on this," he said. "They won't use you to your own ends."

She frowned. "Maybe, but I don't want to find out the hard way," she said. "Look, I do want to tell eventually, but until then I don't feel comfortable talking about it."

Kaidan nodded, sitting back. "Suit yourself," He then leaned forward, looking at Jodie reassuringly. "For what it's worth, I trust that you won't turn on us. If you had been in league with Saren, Tali would not be here, and we would not even have as many leads as we do on what he's planning. So I don't think you're a danger to the mission."

Jodie nodded. "Thanks," she said. "I guess... I guess it's nice to have that reassurance."

"Yeah," said Kaidan. "I'll try to stall on the other dossiers. But I want you to tell me about yourself, something that'll show the higher-ups that you're trustworthy. Please."

"In time, Kaidan," Jodie agreed, looking at Kaidan. "In time."

Kaidan bowed his head forward. "Well, then if that's all, I'll be off," he said. "I should go downstairs and ask Wrex a few questions." He then stood up. "Think about what I've said, Jodie."

"I will," said Jodie.

Kaidan looked at her, and before Jodie could say anything else, Kaidan walked towards the elevator, hitting the call button with a slow touch. Jodie thought she saw him glance back at her before the elevator doors opened, and for a split second she saw some kind of unreadable expression on his face.

Jodie turned back to her omni-tool arm, looking up at Aiden. She sighed, drumming her fingers on the table nervously.

 _He's going to have to know, Aiden,_  she thought.  _If that's there..._

Aiden clicked, a sound that was quickly followed by a rapid whoosh of sound. He then clicked two more times, to which Jodie could only sigh.

 _I... I don't know how,_  she admitted, her gaze turning to the table.  _I don't think he'll rat me out, so that's a good sign, but-_

Aiden then clicked rather harshly, and Jodie's hair stood on end as she felt something rush by her. She looked to the left, shaking her head.

 _He's going to find out eventually, you know,_  she thought.  _But I trust him, Aiden. You may not, but I do. He seems like a nice guy, and he was nice enough to give me a little time to tell him about me, wasn't he?_

Aiden gurgled begrudgingly. Jodie frowned, looking up.  _What? Aiden, why the hell are you bringing_ Ryan  _into this?_ she asked.  _This is nothing like Ryan! We're just friends, Aiden, and I don't think he's interested in taking it beyond that!_

The entity's angry whoosh silenced Jodie, but she looked up at Aiden defiantly.  _Aiden, I'm_ not  _getting together with him, ever,_ she stated.  _He's my superior, and that's all. Would you stop being so paranoid for a second?_

Aiden released a sharp click, and afterwards, Jodie heard an extended silence. She shook her head, exhaling rather roughly.

She then tapped her fingers, her thoughts turning back to Kaidan. Despite Aiden's yelling about Ryan and how Kaidan would turn out exactly like Ryan, Jodie knew that he understood just how little time Jodie had before Aiden would have to be revealed to him. Jodie knew it too, and the thought terrified and comforted her.

Aiden had behaved, and Jodie had felt rather welcome on the Normandy without Aiden, but at the same time she knew that it would only serve to strengthen her friendships to tell the others about Aiden. But she knew the feeling of being pushed away all too well: what if the Normandy did that to her if she revealed herself to them? The thought gave her some reason to pause, but at the same time...

 _They need to know_ , she thought.

And right there she knew she had to find a way to tell the others about Aiden.

Jodie frowned, and then opened her omni-tool again.  _But first, I should write this message to Kalo_ , she thought.  _I think he'd like a reply._

And so, she opened the message again, and began truly writing the reply in earnest. This reply took her some time to write, but the time it took felt like a breeze to Jodie. Every so often she'd hear footsteps approach, but much of the time the footsteps backed off, leaving her to write the message.

As she finished the message, she paused, reading over everything she had written so far:

" _Kalo,_

_Hey. Don't worry about the timing of the message: I actually got it after a ground mission, so you've got nothing to worry about. What sort of business are you talking about? It's not related to getting the money together for that ship, is it? Because if it is... well, ask me, and I'll see what I can do._

_Thanks, though I may get to a place where I've got no choice but reveal what it is. It's... The only reason I'm not telling you over this is because it's a very impersonal way of revealing it. Believe me, I'm getting to a place where I feel like I'll have to reveal it._

_Which brings me to the secrets on the Fleet. I asked you about that because... well, frankly, you're not wrong: I've been used by people before because of my secret. It would take too long to talk about, but the long and short of it is this: some people used me to do their dirty work because of my secret. I used to be... an_  agent  _of the people I worked for. I sometimes killed for them, actually. In some ways, I wish I had never worked for them:_ _they used me for their own ends, they deceived me about my targets... It's why I'm not too keen on telling governmental bodies about this secret. It would take too long to explain, and I would rather do it in person, but that is why I'm reluctant to tell others, especially government people._

_I just... I don't want to be used that way again. It's one of the reasons I remain guarded._

_But for you... I think I'd be willing to reveal this secret to you the next time we see each other. You've been a good friend, Kalo, and I feel like I can trust you with it. I want to tell you in person, but for what it's worth, if I have any control over it I want you to be the first to know._

_Hm... What to listen to... Have you ever listened to any songs by Beck? He's an old human singer from way back in the early 21st Century. He's one of my favorites. I could list more, but most of them have really loud music and I don't think that would help you get more sleep._

_And about Shepard and Tali... Wait, really? Yeah, I don't get that either. What sorts of ambitions would Shepard have at that age before joining the Alliance? I... yeah, I would chalk that up to prejudice, too. Besides, they just act like friends! They seem like rather close friends, granted, but I don't think they're in love or anything! I just... It's so weird what people will judge you for, isn't it?_

_I don't know. There are times where I look at the world and I just don't get it._

_After the mission ends... I don't know, actually. I guess there's more good to be done in the galaxy, but I don't know what places would need help. Maybe I could go there, try to help people over in those places. But I haven't the slightest idea of where to go with that. I guess I'll play it by ear._

_We recently visited Noveria. It was..._ interesting _, I guess. We got another lead there, and we'll keep looking for them. I think that we'll eventually get him, Kalo. You'll see._

_I hope to hear from you soon._

_Your friend,_

_Jodie._ "

Jodie sighed as she typed the last letters of her name. It was a rather happy sigh, but her expression was still fraught with worry. She looked the message over one more time, and then sighed as she leaned forward onto the table. Jodie knew what telling Kalo as well would mean, but for some reason that prospect did not frighten her so much. After all, they had lived together for some time, and in that time Jodie felt like she had gotten to know Kalo very well. And Kalo was respectful to Jodie, and not willing to pry...

 _It must mean something,_  she thought.  _Right, Aiden?_

Aiden chirped, this chirp a little less severe. Jodie nodded, and then hovered her hand over the send button.

And as she pressed send, she felt as though a small weight had been lifted.

 _Yes..._  she thought.  _I think I'd like to tell Kalo first, before I tell anyone else... Maybe then I can figure out how to tell Kaidan and the others..._


	12. Chapter 11

Jodie stood in the cockpit as they pulled into Feros' docking bay. Jodie was not part of the ground team for this mission, but nevertheless she thought she'd go out and see Shepard, Tali, Garrus, and Liara off onto the colony.

Feros was a human colony that Jodie had been briefed about. She had heard about the colony's rather unusual geography of nothing but skyscrapers as far as the eye could see, and in this event her curiosity got the better of her. As she saw the abandoned buildings and crumbling highways up close, Jodie could not help but stare in awe of what she saw. Aiden let out a single chirp of amazement, and Jodie looked on even as the ship pulled into the dock.

"Here we are," said Shepard as he tapped his foot against the floor. "Feros."

"I knew the protheans had built something amazing on this planet, but to actually see it..." Liara looked over at Garrus. "Where do you think the geth are?"

"Who knows?" asked Garrus. "I'm sure their little flashlight heads will point us right at them, though."

"Maybe," said Tali. "We should be careful, Shepard. I get a feeling about this place."

"I will be," said Shepard. He then looked over at Joker. "Joker, tell Kaidan and Ashley to be ready to deploy groundside." He then glanced over at Jodie. "Holmes, be ready to deploy with them."

Jodie blinked, looking at Shepard in surprise. "Uh, yes sir," she said.

The door to the airlock opened. "Good," said Shepard. "We're going to try to help the colony first, find out what is happening. As soon as I figure out where the geth are coming from, you'll be guarding the colony from any further geth attacks. In a place like this I don't expect the geth to sneak past us and attack, but you can never be too careful."

"You really can't, sir," Jodie agreed. She then looked at Tali and Liara. "Be careful, you two."

"Oh, and no words of encouragement for me?" asked Garrus with a fake-wounded body gesture. "I'm hurt."

Jodie chuckled, crossing her arms and looking at Garrus while shaking her head. "I'm sure you'll be fine," said Jodie. "You're the seasoned one of all of them, after all."

A grimace flashed across Shepard's face for a very brief second, but it vanished almost as quickly as Jodie caught it. "I'll see you when I give the word," Shepard replied. "Get ready."

The airlock door closed behind Shepard and his ground team, the decontamination cycle punctuating Shepard's order.

Joker nodded, turning his chair towards Jodie. "Well, you heard the Commander," said Joker. "And I doubt you're going to get any armor on while doing the sight-seeing in this area."

"I know, I know," said Jodie. "Heading down there now."

And with this, Jodie walked out of the cockpit, heading straight for the stairs that would take her to the elevator.

* * *

As Jodie fitted her shoulder guard onto her shoulder, Aiden clicked once.

"Hey Jodie."

Jodie looked up to see Ashley walking towards her, already fully suited up. Jodie smiled, looking at the gunnery chief with a smile on her face.

"Hey Ashley," said Jodie. "You ready to defend a colony?"

"Maybe," said Ashley. "It's going to be a little strange without Shepard there."

"Well, Kaidan's in charge, right?" Jodie asked as she closed the last clasp.

"That's true, but I think it'll still take me a bit to get used to taking orders from him," Ashley replied. "He's got big shoes to fill, even if it's something as simple as colony defense."

"Well, if the colonists are smart, they'll do what they can," Jodie replied. "And besides, Shepard's going to clear the colony before we even touch it."

"Also true," said Ashley. She shrugged. "But then, I guess I'm just being paranoid. I've got this feeling today is going to be a big day."

"Even just defending colonists?" Jodie asked.

"Even just defending colonists," Ashley replied. "It's just a feeling. Don't take it too seriously."

"Eh, hunches do sometimes have merit," said Jodie with a shrug. She bent down and attached her pistol to her hip. "Trust me, I've had a few hunches that I wish I had listened to. It... wasn't pleasant."

"More about your past?" Ashley asked. "Are you ever going to tell us your whole history?"

"Some day," she said. "Hell, for all I know it could be later to day."

Ashley chuckled. "Maybe," she said. "Come on, soldier. Let's get upstairs and wait for the call."

"Yeah, let's do that," said Jodie.

The two women then walked over to the elevator, the two of them quickly stepping onto it and taking it up to the crew deck.

* * *

" _Hello, ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking. If Lieutenant Alenko, Gunnery Chief Williams, and... um... Something Holmes would come up to the cockpit, I've got their tickets to the picture show. I managed to get them for half off._ "

Jodie snorted in amusement from where she sat at the mess hall tables. "Leave it to Joker to put it like that," she said.

"Well, that's the Normandy for you." Jodie and Ashley looked up to see Kaidan coming out from behind the displays he usually worked on. "Shepard goes on missions, Joker makes jokes..." He frowned. "This is a little different, though."

"Just a little," said Jodie. "You think we'll have to deal with too much resistance from the geth?"

"Probably not, but it can't hurt to leave us behind," said Kaidan.

"My thoughts exactly," said Ashley. "It'll keep the colonists calm, at the very least."

"It will," said Jodie. "And in times like this..." She bowed her head, closing her eyes. "I think they could use all the comfort they can get."

"Maybe," said Kaidan. "Either way, we have our parameters."

"That we do," said Jodie. "Well, let's get this over with, yes?"

"Right behind you," said Ashley.

The three of them then began walking out of the mess hall, walking straight over to the airlock.

* * *

Jodie walked out of the ship behind Kaidan and Ashley, her eyes widening at the decay all around them. From just walking around outside, Jodie could tell that Feros had once been a wonderful city to live. Its structures were grand, and what she had only gotten a preview of on the Normandy was incredible to behold up close. All the nooks and crannies seemed to breathe life. Jodie found herself awed by the wonder around her...

...and then her muscles tensed a little at how it was all rotted out, as nature and decay had taken over.

The effect was a little jarring. Jodie found herself placing each of her steps as she walked on the ground: something inside of her told her to watch her step, lest the floor underneath give way and she plummet who knew how many miles to her death. Even the fact that Aiden could protect her from such a fall was no comfort there. She found herself instinctively trying to avoid the foilage that had cropped up everywhere, fearing that it would crumble if she so much as brushed it lightly. Her eyes could only trail everything around them in wonder, thinking of how the protheans must have traversed such a space so many millennia ago.

It was such that she was caught off guard when they finally did arrive at the main body of the colony. Jodie was taken aback by the sudden transition to seeing a bunch of pre-fab facilities everywhere, and even more so when she saw the various humans milling about. The humans gave her cursory glances as they went about their jobs, Jodie greeting them with various nods. Jodie even swore she saw a salarian in there, checking stock on several items that were rather out of the wya.

And then, right in front of a barricade on the other side of the colony, was where Kaidan, Ashley, and Jodie saw Shepard with his ground team. Shepard nodded, and Jodie noted that Tali and Liara were both looking past the barricade for any sign of a renewed geth attack. Beside the commander, the three of them saw two humans, one a Hispanic woman and the other a rough-looking older man.

Kaidan nodded. "Shepard," he said, walking forward and nodding to the commander. "I didn't think the colony would be so small."

"Well, that's Zhu's Hope for you," said the rough man. He then leaned towards Kaidan. "Fai Dan. I lead this colony."

Kaidan nodded, extending his hand out. Fai Dan moved to shake it, Kaidan nodding politely and looking at the woman behind Fai Dan. "And who is she?"

"Arcelia Silva Martinez," said Fai Dan. "She's the security detail around here."

"You mean the rent-a-cop," Arcelia fired back.

"Arcelia, please," Fai Dan said. "You're probably the only reason we've survived this long. We all appreciate your help." He nodded to Kaidan. "You'll have to forgive Arcelia. She can be a little... uncouth."

"I gathered," said Ashley. She then turned to Shepard. "I guess we'll be reporting to these two?"

"Something like that," said Shepard. "They're the ones in charge of the colony, so if anything occurs, you go to them."

"Got it," said Kaidan. He then looked past the barricade. "Do you think there will be any more geth forces incoming?"

"We think the geth are coming in from further away," said Shepard. "But I think we should still leave you here. You never know if a geth dropship can come in to ruin your day back here."

"That's true," said Kaidan. "We'll hold the fort here, Shepard."

"Good," said Shepard. "Keep the colonists safe."

"Yes, sir," Jodie added, giving him a brief bow of her head.

After this, Shepard nodded, and then he turned back towards the barricade. He then walked on, leaving Kaidan, Ashley, and Jodie with Fai Dan and Arcelia.

Jodie nodded, looking over at Fai Dan. "So, is there anything you need?"

"We could run a few diagnostics," said Fai Dan. "Shepard took care of a few tasks for us, but he told us to leave the remainder to at least one of you when you got here. Of course, you can stay here and guard the colony, but-"

"Oh, no, that's no problem at all," said Jodie, stepping forward. "I can probably go down there and help." She then looked back at Kaidan and Ashley. "Right?"

"I guess so," said Kaidan, rubbing his chin. "What do you need?"

"Shepard went down to clear some geth from the tunnels beneath us," said Fai Dan. "He did a good enough job of it, but the water restoration is down there, and he said he could not wait."

"So you want us to restore the water," said Ashley. "You have any specialists on hand?"

"Macha Doyle is your girl," Arcelia replied, brusquely pointing at a rather young-looking blonde woman who was standing over by a one of the crates.

Jodie nodded. "You think she can accompany me down there?" she asked.

"Now that the area is clear of geth, I assume so," said Fai Dan. "Talk to her first."

Jodie nodded, looking at Kaidan and Ashley. "I'll take care of it," she said. "I'll rejoin you guys when I'm done."

Kaidan nodded. "Sure thing, Jodie," he said. "Just radio ahead when you're done."

"Will do," said Jodie with a nod.

She then walked right on over to Macha Doyle, her steps a little more secure on the aging floor beneath her.

* * *

"So this is it, hm?"

Jodie stepped down into the water treatment area of the colony, seeing little more than a few panels that were arranged just down the corridor. Jodie looked further down the corridor to see a bunch of geth "corpses" lying around everywhere. She shook her head, following Macha Doyle deeper into the corridor.

Macha nodded, brushing some of her blonde hair out of her face. "Yes, this is it," she said. "Just a series of panels all down here." She looked back at Jodie. "All we really need to do is open the water valves that the geth closed. Technically, anyone can do this. It was designed to be that way, you know?"

"I can certainly see that," said Jodie as she opened her omni-tool. Macha did the same, Jodie glancing at her and attempting to follow her lead as she stood in front of a panel a little further away. "Hm... It is pretty simple."

"Yes," said Macha. "I would've asked Shepard to do it, but he's in a hurry. Has to save the galaxy."

"I'll bet," said Jodie, glancing back towards the entrance. "Are you all right?"

"A little shaken, but I'm okay," said Macha. "Those geth came out of nowhere, and with so many forces, too."

"I'll say," said Jodie. "Do you have any idea why they might want to attack this place?"

"No," said Macha, moving on to the next one. "I have no idea."

Jodie looked over, raising an eyebrow. "Hm," she said. "Well, I guess we'll find out soon enough, yeah?"

"Maybe not," said Macha, looking over at Jodie. "It might be better not to know."

"Well, I think it would be better to know, but to each their own, I guess," said Jodie, looking away. Aiden chirped off in the distance, but Jodie paid it no mind. "So ExoGeni funded the colony here, huh?"

"That's right," said Macha. "They funded the colony. Why do you want to know?"

Jodie nodded as Macha moved on to the final panel. "I don't know how they could think of funding a place like this," she said. "I mean, no offense, but this place just looks like it could fall apart any second now."

"It won't fall apart," said Macha. "If it managed to outlast fifty thousand years of decay, it can probably manage several human lifetimes."

"Maybe, but that doesn't make me feel any more secure about it," said Jodie. She paused, her mind going into overdrive. "ExoGeni and the geth having an interest in this place... You know, something about it bugs me."

"There's nothing here," said Macha, her voice more monotone than before. "We're just a small colony. There's nothing remarkable about us."

Jodie frowned, looking back at Macha. When she did, she noticed that Macha's stare was completely blank, which starkly contrasted against her more animated nature from earlier. She noticed Macha's free arm twitch slightly, and it was only then that Jodie noticed just how tense Macha was. It was a wholly alien feel that she got from Macha, but the worst feeling was that Jodie felt as if she had seen this look before.

Upon seeing this, Jodie's breath hitched slightly, Aiden clicking somewhat in alarm. "Um... if you say so," said Jodie. She then chuckled nervously. "Are we done here?"

"Just about," said Macha Doyle. She then turned to the panel, and after a few seconds of tinkering with it, Jodie heard a rush of water from within the nearby pipes. "And we're done."

Jodie frowned. "That was quick," she commented.

"It was," she said. "We should get back."

"Yeah... Yeah, we should," said Jodie.

And with this, Macha and Jodie left the corridor underneath the colony.

* * *

As soon as Jodie emerged with Macha, she looked around her, her skin crawling from the way Macha had looked at her in the corridors.

She glanced back at where Kaidan and Ashley were, deciding to talk a walk amidst the colony. Jodie knew where to go if the geth came in again, and something about Macha's behavior had rubbed her entirely the wrong way. Memories of her first nights at Paul's ranch came back to her mind; all the uncertainty, all the warnings, everything about how she could never venture outside of the house at night, the way Paul looked at her as if beckoning her to never ask about what happened outside.

Jodie bit her lower lip, also remembering what she had uncovered on the night that her curiosity got the better of her. Ye'iitsoh, they had called it. It was a greater entity, one that Jodie would see a couple more times in her life. It was massive, and it attacked her as soon as she stepped outside. It had been big, and it was only after some spirits had chased Ye'iitsoh away that she was told it had been haunting Paul's family for a long time.

Of course, Jodie eventually put a stop to it. After all, it was always her.0

And thinking to her current situation, Jodie had reason to suspect that something was going on deep within Zhu's Hope. The whole situation just seemed too suspicious: the colony was otherwise unassuming, but then why would the geth take interest in it? There was also the matter of ExoGeni, given that Jodie was completely confounded as to why they would fund the colony. She knew something was wrong, but what exactly it was was something she could not put her finger on.

As she pondered this, she walked over to one of the prefab units. Standing by there was the salarian merchant Jodie had spotted earlier.

"Oh, hello," said the merchant. "I didn't see you walk over."

Jodie nodded. "It's fine," she said. "Um... So what sort of stuff do you sell?"

"Oh, just standard fare, really," the salarian said. "I'm more of a travelling merchant. I was just passing through when I got caught in the geth attack."

"You were, huh?" asked Jodie. "How was that?"

"Stressful," the salarian replied. "Most of my supplies ended up going to help the colony." He then glanced to the people around them. "Honestly, I think my arrival might've been good for them. My supplies are part of the reason they've managed to survive this long. That's always a good feeling to have."

Jodie nodded. "So you've just been giving them away, just like that?" she asked.

"Had to," said salarian. "These people were scared. Still are scared. You just can't charge payment to people like that."

Jodie smiled. "That's good," she said. She looked around. "You have any idea why the geth attacked?"

The salarian shrugged. "No," he said. "Neither does anyone else in this colony." He shook his head. "I don't know if I would ask, honestly. I mean, as long as the geth are attacking, why does it matter?"

Jodie frowned at the salarian's dismissal. "But doesn't it seem strange that they're attacking this colony?" she asked. "I mean, they're machines. Don't machines usually have an objective?"

"We don't know what it is," said the salarian, his voice suddenly emotionless and his eyes having a slightly visible glaze to them. "And we will probably never find out. It may be best to leave it that way. There are some things you don't want to know."

Jodie paused, feeling her skin crawl. "Um... I don't think..." she said, glancing to the side. "Are you sure about that?"

"Absolutely," said the salarian. He shrugged. "Anyway, I should probably take inventory on my supplies right now. You never know when people will need something."

Jodie nodded. "Of course," she said. "Sorry to have disturbed you."

"No no, don't worry about that," the salarian replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. "It's fine. You should get back over there."

Jodie turned away from the salarian, her brow furrowed. She then walked away, slowly, glancing at all the humans around her. This was not a large colony, and yet Jodie felt like there were a thousand more eyes boring into her than before. The sensation made her skin crawl; there was just too much about this situation that was suspicious, and while Jodie was willing to give the villagers the benefit of the doubt, the way Macha had looked at her gave her serious reason for concern.

 _Aiden, you feel it too, right?_  she asked.

The entity chirped, and then Jodie nodded. She took a few more steps forward, and then looked up at where she assumed Aiden was.

 _Is... is there anything you can see around here?_  she asked.  _Anything they might've hidden from us?_

Aiden grumbled softly, Jodie knowing he was deep in thought. As he did this, Jodie thought she heard the sound travel some distance around her, until she could barely hear it. Jodie looked at the pre-fab units around her, imagining Aiden checking every last one. She figured that Shepard had already gone through the colony, but a once-over with Aiden could do very little to hurt, she assumed.

She then heard a somewhat loud, but distant click. The torrent of clicks that came afterwards moved closer to Jodie, Aiden sounding all nervous.

Jodie looked up.  _So there's a secret passage under one of the pre-fab units?_  she asked. She nodded, resuming her walk towards Ashley.  _I see... What are they hiding down there...?_

She paused, and then nodded her head.  _Well, Aiden, I think we better at least bring this up to Kaidan or Ashley,_  she thought.  _Come on. Let's go talk to them._

And with this, Jodie walked past many of the other colonists.

When she walked over to Kaidan and Ashley a few seconds later, she blinked in surprise when she saw three of the colonists talking to Kaidan. Ashley was still watching over the barricade, but Kaidan's attention was focused on fielding questions from the colonists. At least, Jodie hoped they were just questions. She had no idea if Macha had gone to them about Jodie asking too many questions, but if they did...

Kaidan looked over at Jodie as she approached, the Lieutenant nodding. "Oh, Jodie," said Kaidan. "There you are. I was wondering when you would come back from restoring the water with Ms. Doyle."

Jodie shrugged. "Sorry," she said. "I was off...  _sightseeing_." She chuckled nervously, looking at the three colonists. "What're they here for?"

"Did you ask Macha Doyle anything?" asked one of the colonists.

Jodie blinked. "Well, I was just curious if she knew anything," she said. "You know, about why the geth attacked?"

"We don't know," said a second colonist. "Now stop asking. We don't have any idea why the geth would attack this place, and if we did we'd tell you. Now we have the geth to worry about, don't we? So guard us."

And with this, the colonists walked away. Jodie watched them go, noticing the positions they took. She found herself frowning, especially at the way that their walk seemed almost  _too_ calm and collected considering what they had said. She turned to Kaidan, and noticed that he seemed just as confused as she was. He frowned at the colonists before turning to Jodie.

"What was that about?" Kaidan asked.

"I don't know, but I don't like it," said Jodie. She then walked closer to Kaidan. "Look, there's something odd about this. I asked Macha Doyle if she knew anything about why ExoGeni was here and why the geth attacked." She shrugged. "I would understand if they didn't know, but the way Macha answered, and the way someone else answered when I asked them..." She shook her head, glancing behind her and leaning close to Kaidan. "There's something going on here, Kaidan. I don't know what it is, but I don't like it."

Kaidan looked at the colony around them. "Your concern is noted, Jodie, but I don't think we'll have to worry about anything," he said. "They're still probably in shock or something."

But Jodie shook her head. "I don't think I've known people in shock that act like this," she said. "It's like they're telling us not to look..." Jodie breathed in.  _Aiden, do you think I should tell them about the secret passage?_

Kaidan looked around, seeing the way the colonists milled about. Jodie turned around as well, looking at the way the colonists moved around. Jodie then paid attention to the way some of them moved: a few of them had their glances trained on them, with some seeming to move around listlessly. There was one woman in particular who just stood around, moving in a somewhat robotic fashion. Kaidan frowned upon seeing her, and then turned his attention back to Jodie.

"Hm, now that you mention it..." Kaidan looked back at Jodie. "They have been moving in somewhat strange ways."

"They've been this robotic the whole time?" she asked.

"Well, no, but I think it's starting to look like it now," he said. Jodie then turned back to Kaidan. "Is there... anything else you want to tell me?"

Jodie frowned, looking up at Aiden. Aiden gave an assertive click, to which Jodie subtly nodded. She then looked over at the prefab unit for a few seconds, indicating it to Kaidan.

"I... There's something about that unit's location," she said. "I just... Call it a hunch, but I feel like there's something down there."

Kaidan's brows furrowed, and he crossed his arms as he looked at it. "How did you know that?" he asked. "And are you even sure about it?"

"No," said Jodie. "But my hunches are usually right."

"Well, we'll see," said Kaidan. "Your concern is noted, but until the colonists act I'm not sure what it is you expect me to do."

"Honestly, I don't either," said Jodie. "Just... be on your guard, Kaidan. I don't like this..."

Kaidan nodded. "Well, I can do that, of course," he said. "You be careful yourself."

Jodie gave a faint smile, though her eyes still shone a little with fear. "I will," she said. She then looked over at Ashley. "So, should we assume positions at the guard post?" Jodie asked.

Kaidan nodded. "Sure," he said. He then grabbed his pistol, motioning to the barricade with a tilt of his head. "Come on. Those geth might come from nowhere, you know?"

The Lieutenant then walked over to the barricade. Jodie followed, sparing one more glance at the colonists behind her. She watched them mill about, seeing how rigid their specific movements were. The whole thing left Jodie feeling extremely uncomfortable, a sentiment shared by Aiden.

Jodie then shook her head, shaking her limbs out. As she walked over to where Ashley was, an unpleasant feeling settled in her gut.

 _Aiden... just watch them,_  she thought.  _If they stir up trouble, you know what to do._

The entity released a rather resonant click, and Jodie instantly felt some small comfort at the fact that no matter what happened, Aiden would be keeping watch.

* * *

Some time passed, with no updates from Shepard and his crew. This left Kaidan, Ashley, and Jodie to hang around the barricade, sitting there waiting for a geth attack that they were convinced would not happen as time went on. After a while, Jodie had taken to looking up at the sky, wondering what Aiden was thinking. It left her lost in thought due to his silence, though Jodie attributed this to Aiden's vigilance. She shook her head, looking out to the landscape around Feros.

After a while, she found herself looking out at the scenery, her mind turning back to the decayed architecture from close to the nearby pre-fab unit. And it was as she looked at this architecture from a distance that she heard footsteps approaching her.

"Well, this is turning out to be boring," said Ashley as she approached.

Jodie nodded, before looking back at the architecture. "Maybe," said Jodie. "It's always uneventful right before things happen, though."

"You think so?" Ashley asked. "I was under the impression that everything sort of just happens, you know?"

Jodie shrugged. "Maybe," she replied. "I don't know." She then sighed, turning her complete attention to Ashley. "You ever wonder if there are any greater beings out there...?"

"What, like God or something?" Ashley asked. She chuckled. "Of course I do. And I think there are."

Jodie rose an eyebrow. "Whoah," she said. "I didn't think you'd be the religious type."

"A lot of people don't," said Ashley. "But think about it. We have all this vast expanse of the galaxy, with all kinds of species in it. How could God or some grand creator not exist in a place like this?"

"I don't know," Jodie replied. She glanced down at the ground. "I... I think there's something out there. I just wish I could believe it more."

Ashley frowned. "Believe it more?" she asked. "I don't know how God works, but... well, I feel like you believe him, or you don't. Doesn't really matter what book you use, but-"

"That's not what I'm getting at," said Jodie. "I just... I don't know. It's tough to explain, but I'm wondering what God would allow..."

"Pain and suffering? I don't know, but he did give us free will," Ashley said. "And really, you can't have good without something to compare it too, right?"

Jodie gave a sad smile to Ashley. "I guess that's true," Jodie replied. She glanced down at the ground. "I guess I'm just wondering... what would happen if that  _didn't_ exist."

"Well, who knows?" asked Ashley. "I don't think it's safe to say that things would be  _that_ different. I'd think about the only difference would be that a lot of good people wouldn't know who to turn to if they had problems. And when you have _that_ going..."

"Maybe," said Jodie. She sighed. "I think I have an idea of how that works."

"Oh?" asked Ashley. She then crossed her arms, leaning against the prefab unit. "Do you feel like-?"

"Contact! We have a... contact?"

Jodie and Ashley paused as they heard Kaidan's shout. The two of them then looked at each other for a split second, before rushing toward's Kaidan's position. Jodie drew her pistol, and Ashley was in the process of drawing her assault rifle when they both made it to the barricade.

But what they saw explained how Kaidan's voice had taken a turn towards a more questioning tone. They saw a curious-looking humanoid, but there was something off about him. Jodie knew from the way that the being's skin was ashen grey that something was odd, but then she took note of the black trail that stood where the creature's eyes should have been. It shambled forward, seemingly guided by some otherworldly force. When Jodie looked beyond it, she saw another one of those beings shambling forward.

"What the  _fuck_ is that?" asked Jodie.

The being seemed to respond to this, turning its head towards Jodie. The second one turned towards her as well, and then they stayed absolutely still for a few seconds.

The beings then charged the barracks, rushing forward with incredible speed.

"Holy shit!"

As soon as Jodie shouted this, she brought her pistol up, firing right at the closer of the two beings. She shot it right in the shoulder, right before the thing was launched back by a biotic attack from Kaidan. The second one went down immediately with some assault rifle fire from Ashley. The two things had gone down in less than a second, but Jodie still found herself breathing heavily at the fact that the wounds produced almost no actual blood.

She looked at the beings, her eye wide. "What...?"

Kaidan stepped forward, looking down at the body that had just been shot down. "It looks like zombie..." he said.

Jodie and Ashley gave each other a confused glance. "Zombie?" asked Ashley. "That's impossible! What could cause something like that to appear?"

"It doesn't look natural, though..." Jodie then looked up past the barricade. "How many more of those things are there?"

"I don't know," said Kaidan. "But we can't worry about it now."

"Are they geth creations?" Jodie asked. "Because I can't think of why-"

"No no, it can't be geth," Ashley replied immediately. "I've seen geth versions of those things before. They did  _not_ look like that at all..."

Jodie frowned, looking at the two bodies as they began to lose mass. She frowned, seeing the way the flesh began to turn to dust. "And they decompose awfully quickly, too," Jodie noted. "What is-?"

And then, Aiden released an almost ear-piercing shriek. Jodie immediately turned behind her, noticing that all the colonists were beginning to move towards the barricade. She saw quite a few of them draw their weapons, and when she looked, she saw that there were more armed colonists than she had counted.

"Shit!"

Jodie tackled Ashley almost immediately, the two women flying behind a nearby crate just in time to dodge the first barrage of fire. Jodie barely had any time to look up again to see all the colonists there, before she saw some of them make a beeline straight for the barricade, some of them firing at where she assumed Kaidan was. She briefly thought she saw more of the lifeless things running out from somewhere behind the colonists, and that was all she could see before a barrage of gunfire forced her back into cover.

"What the fuck is going on?" shouted Ashley.

Jodie scowled. "I  _knew_ there was something strange about the colonists," she muttered. She then looked at the colonists again, before opening her omni-tool and bringing a hand to her ear. "Shepard! Shepard, do you copy?" _  
_

Jodie heard nothing but static for several seconds in response. She shook her head, looking over to Ash. Jodie waited a few more seconds, but there was no reply on the other end.

"Dammit!" Jodie shouted. "Shepard's not responding!"

"He's probably got his communications jammed," Ashley said, pulling out her assault rifle. She then fired a barrage, though Jodie did not hear anybody scream in pain. "Isn't Wrex on the Normandy though?"

Jodie nodded, scrolling through her contacts and selecting one before bringing her hand to her ear again. "Joker! Joker, please tell me you're getting this!"

" _I'm reading you loud and clear!_ " he said. " _Why'd you call back to-?_ "

And then, Jodie heard a dull thud from somewhere close to Joker. She jumped a little. "Joker, what was that?"

" _I don't know, but it sounded like it was-_ " and there, Joker let out a loud gasp. " _Holy shit, what_ are  _those things?_ "

"The white things, right?" Jodie asked. "Yeah, the colony just turned on us, and I'm not talking about the geth in this case. Can you get Wrex up there?"

" _Well, you know how proud krogan are,_ " said Joker. " _Wave a fight in their face, and they're there in no time. I'll get him to you guys ASAP_."

Jodie nodded. "Great!" she said. "Get him here fast!" She then cut the link quickly, opening another comm link.

However, before she could call Kaidan, she watched as more of those white creatures were blasted above the barricade. Jodie ducked down, cringing inwardly. Aiden chirped in confirmation, and Jodie found herself sighing in relief. She then looked over to Ashley as she sprayed some suppressive fire at the colonists.

Ash then ducked back behind cover. "These colonists don't look like they're in their right head!" she noted.

Jodie looked at the colonists. "We were sent here to protect them, right?" she asked. "So why did they...?"

"That doesn't matter," said Ashley. "I can't tell if they're being actively hostile. What do you think could've led to this?"

"I..." Jodie glanced to the side, looking at the colonists. "I don't know..."

Ashley looked around. "Maybe you were right to suspect ExoGeni's involvement after all," Ashley said. She then looked around. "What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know," said Jodie. "But I get the feeling they're not themselves. There was  _something_ in the way they moved! Like, they were going along with something! At least the ones I talked to! But I don't think they're doing this of their own free will!"

"Well, until I hear otherwise, I'm not trusting them with anything," said Ashley. She then patted her assault rifle. "I'm going to shoot to disable. "

As Ashley rose out of cover, Jodie slapped her hand on the assault rifle. "No, Ashley, don't!" Jodie shouted, quickly shoving the assault rifle down. "Don't shoot! You might kill them!"

"I'm going to shoot to disable," said Ashley. "There's a difference!"

"And you think they won't bleed out before we can make sure they're still alive?" Jodie asked. "Even if you don't shoot to kill, some of them are going to die if you do that! I can't let that happen!"

"Then what do  _you_ suggest?" Ashley asked. "We're outnumbered, we don't know when our back-up will arrive, we don't know what those white things are or who they're working for, and we'll be screwed if we stay here any longer! So do you have any brilliant ideas?"

Jodie's eyes widened as she heard this. For a second, all action seemed to stop, all kinds of scenarios running through her mind. She knew that Aiden could very easily help solve the colonist issue. It would not be easy, but she knew he would make it possible. At the same time, she knew it would require Ashley to find out about him before she was ready, and she knew it would apply to Kaidan since he was close by. Jodie had wanted to avoid such a scenario before then.

Her glance turned towards the colonists.  _But if I don't..._

"I'm sorry, Jodie," Ashley said. When Jodie turned, she saw that Ashley's eyes were watering slightly. "I don't want to have to do this, but we don't have any other option."

Jodie then watched as Ashley raised her assault rifle. She took a quick glance at Aiden, and then back at the colonists, who stood there, acting more robotically than anything else. As they lined up to fire at them, she then glanced at Aiden again, her brows furrowing.

 _Sorry, Aiden_ , she thought, gritting her teeth in anticipation.

As soon as this thought left her mind, Jodie slapped her hand on the assault rifle, immediately pointing it at the floor. Ashley let out a cry of surprise as Jodie pulled her back under cover.

"Do you trust me?"

Ashley turned to Jodie immediately, an almost angry frown on her face. "Do I tr...? Jodie, this isn't the time to-!"

"Answer the question!" said Jodie, her voice harsh. "I have a way that can get us out of this without killing anyone!"

Ashley moved to retort, but upon seeing Jodie's concerned expression, she paused, her mouth still open. Her eyebrows furrowed, and then Jodie nodded.

"Look, I can get us out of this," said Jodie. "Hopefully. But first, I need a guarantee that you won't freak out, and that you'll listen to me when it's all over. Now, I'll say this again: do you trust me?"

Ashley paused, looking back at the colonists. After a single second, she turned, a determined look on her face.

"I do," said Ashley. She frowned. "But I don't see what this has to do with it."

"You'll see soon enough." Jodie then leaned back against the crate. Her heart pounded in her chest, thoughts of Ashley and Kaidan's reactions continually racing through her head. She knew she faced rejection and fear if she did it... but at the same time, she knew it was the only way to save everyone. Ashley was right about the situation, after all: if Jodie waited, she knew the results would be disastrous.

Aiden clicked gravely, the sound low and foreboding. In response, Jodie shook her head. Jodie then looked away from Ashley, expressly tilting her head up. "Go," she said aloud, not even bothering to use her thoughts to communicate with the entity. "Get us out of this, Aiden."

Ashley frowned. "Aiden?" she asked. "What are you-?"

A loud bang sounded in the area, and on Jodie and Ashley's watch, the barricade out to where the geth had likely come from exploded in towards the colonists. The cover was shattered, pieces of crates flying just about everywhere, with one intact crate slamming against the prefab building on the other side of the passage. Startled, the colonists ceased their fire, one of them getting knocked back by the debris. The debris settled quickly, though it left the colonists in a state of confusion.

Ashley's eyes bugged out, and Jodie looked at her to see the expression of shock she thought she would never see on Ashley's face. "Jodie... What was-?"

The door to the nearby prefab unit opened immediately. Jodie nodded, hearing the sound and pushing Ashley forward as she realized Aiden's probable plan. "Go go go go go!" she shouted.

Ashley stumbled at the initial push, but she quickly picked up to the fact that the prefab unit's door was open. Thus, Ashley rushed ahead of Jodie, the door closing behind them once Jodie was through the doorway. Jodie then looked back to the door, watching as the door panel flashed red before the light from the panel was entirely extinguished. Several bangs sounded from the door, but Jodie looked at the door, her fists clenching in resolve.

Ashley then frowned, looking at Jodie. "What the hell was that?" she asked. "What did-?"

Jodie turned, quickly walking to the other end of the prefab unit. "I don't have time to explain," she said. "We better get to the other side before they do. It'll be less pressure on Kaidan, and we can split off the forces, work our way from there. At least, that's what I  _think_ the plan is... I can't be-"

"No." Ashley paused, stepping in front of Jodie. "Jodie, what was that? There wasn't anything there, and then the barricade just blew open! How did-?"

"It'll take too long to explain," said Jodie. "I'll tell you when we're  _not_ being shot at by the colony we're protecting. But for now, I'm going to tell you that what you're about to see may creep you out. Don't be. He's friendly." She then paused, glaring at Aiden. "Usually."

And with this, Jodie walked past Ashley. Ashley stood there, a confused frown settled on her face. " _He?_ " she asked.

"Yes, he," said Jodie. "Come on."

Ashley stood there for another two seconds, before shaking her head. She then rushed to catch up to Jodie, who took a position by the door at the other end of the pre-fab unit. Ashley joined on the other side, her assault rifle at the ready just in case. Before Jodie could react, the door opened, and then the two women dove into cover, Jodie diving into cover considerably closer to where she expected the colonists would appear.

As Jodie peeked out from behind cover, the colonists came around, taking positions around Ashley and Jodie. Jodie faintly noticed that some of the colonists hid behind the prefab unit that Aiden had pointed out earlier, and she noted that the salarian colonist was among them. There were three other colonists on the way there, all of them taking cover behind various crates. She assumed the remaining colonists were making sure Kaidan had no room to breathe.

She then looked up, glancing at Ashley. "Okay, Aiden, you know the score," she said. "Don't kill them, and make it quick so we can get to Kaidan." She then turned to Ashley. "Ashley, if any of those grey things show up, shoot them!"

Ashley nodded, though she still looked very confused. Jodie turned to the colonists in front of her, preparing her pistol just in case.

She then watched as the colonist closest to her popped out of cover, firing a few shots. Jodie grabbed her pistol, shooting wildly yet making sure to fire away from where she knew the colonists were. As she watched, the colonist closest to her was suddenly launched forward, tumbling over cover as he let out a loud cry. Jodie blinked, immediately seeing an opportunity.

Jodie then vaulted over cover. "Ashley, cover me!"

Ashley then sprayed some suppressing fire, Jodie rushing straight for the colonist. As the colonist got up with a confused look on his face, Jodie slid into cover right next to him, grabbing his head and hitting it against the ground for good measure. The colonist exhaled and went out like a light, but before Jodie did anything else, she felt at the colonist's neck, her fingers settling on his jugular.

Jodie counted to two before she felt a pulse.

Jodie nodded, opening her omni-tool and administering a dose of medigel to the colonist. "Hang in there," she whispered. "We'll save the rest of your friends."

She then turned her attention to the next closest colonist. Before she could do anything, though, she gasped at seeing some of the grey beings run at Ashley.

Jodie brought her pistol to bear, shooting at the grey creatures frantically. Before Jodie could take any of them down, though, something tackled her to the ground. As her pistol clattered a few feet away, something inhuman gave a long, airy exhale right next to her ear. She turned her head immediately, finding herself face to face with one of the grey creatures.

She let out a yell, immediately rolling over so the creature was beneath her. Before she could hit him and get off, however, the creature rolled back over so that both were out in the open. Jodie inhaled, watching as the creature opened its mouth. As its head moved towards Jodie's exposed neck, Jodie freed her right hand, the hand clenching into a fist as it hit the grey creature right where its eyes should have been. This did not deter the creature in any way, but Jodie found it gave her a little more room to maneuver.

She quickly hit the creature in its midsection, successfully getting it off of her. She then got to her feet, firing her pistol at the creature. She managed shoot it in the right shoulder, a quick headshot causing it to stumble completely backwards.

Almost immediately, Jodie was shot at by the colonists aiming at her and Ashley. However, Jodie noticed that the world had been tainted a flaming blue, this barrier. Jodie watched as the mass accelerator rounds bounced off of Aiden's barrier, Jodie looking around as the colonists continued pumping fire in her direction. She then nodded, looking around her as she quickly went and picked up her pistol.

"Thanks," she said.

She then turned and ran for cover. Aiden's barrier dissipated. She noticed that the cover she ran into had a still-conscious colonist on the other side. Without wasting any time, Jodie shot above cover, grabbing the colonist by the shirt. Startled, this colonist released her gun, looking up in shock as Jodie let out a lengthy grunt and pulled the colonist behind cover with her. Jodie then quickly punched the colonist in the face, the punch having enough force to knock her out.

Jodie then slapped her back on the piece of cover, looking over to see the salarian was joined by two other colonists. Jodie nodded, looking up at Aiden.

"Separate them," she said. "And then see what we can do."

Jodie then watched as the prefab unit the salarian and the other colonists were hiding behind jerked suddenly behind them. It did not really move terribly far, but it was enough to startle them away from cover. Jodie watched as they milled about, looking a little confused at what happened.

That was when Jodie saw the salarian's big eyes roll back into his head. However, the salarian remained standing, and he remained so in a position that was unnaturally still. Jodie nodded, hearing someone get pushed out of the way. Jodie acknowledged Ashley with a nod, before looking back at the three colonists in question.

And then, the salarian colonist moved forward. He hit one of the colonists with his pistol, sending him sprawling to the ground. Jodie took this as an invitation to vault out of cover, Jodie running over to both colonists.

"Hey, what the hell are you-?"

The second human colonist was then knocked out by the salarian colonist, the two colonists lying on the ground. Jodie then slid into cover, nodding at the salarian. The salarian nodded robotically, and then walked past Jodie.

Jodie heard some footsteps, and then looked over at the salarian. "Hey!" Jodie turned behind her to look at Ashley as she advanced towards the salarian. "Hey, why are you-?"

"Don't touch him," said Jodie, extending an arm out to stop Ashley. "If you do that, he'll go back to shooting us."

Ashley frowned. "And how do you know that?" she asked.

"Because that's how Aiden is," said Jodie. "If you touch someone he's...  _possessing_ , then he gets expelled from that person."

Ashley frowned. "Jodie, you..." She then stepped away. "What the hell is Aiden?"

"He's a supernatural entity," she said. "That's all I can tell you for right now. I'm going to have to explain it to Kaidan anyway, so let's just save him first and I can talk to you about Aiden all day."

Ashley nodded. "Fine," she said, her tone a little harsher than Jodie was used to. "But you've got a  _lot_ to explain."

Jodie felt a few chills run up her arms.  _Oh fuck, I think she's already judging me..._  "Y... Yeah, I do..." said Jodie, glancing down to the side. After a few seconds, she breathed in, looking to the other side of the prefab unit. "Come on. We better get Kaidan out of this mess."

And with this, Jodie followed the possessed salarian colonist, Ashley following with uncertain footsteps as Jodie pressed herself against the other end of the prefab building. And as Jodie looked at the backs of the remaining twelve colonists now firing where the barricade had once been, ideas began to form in her mind. Her fingers tapped against the prefab unit, and she looked at the possessed salarian.

"Okay Aiden, let's go," she said.

The salarian simply reached for something on his pocket, Jodie noticing that it was shaped like a disc. Jodie blinked, looking at it before turning her attention to Ashley as Aiden stepped out of cover slowly.

"Please tell me that's a flashbang," she said.

Ashley stepped forward, looking at the grenade in the salarian's hand. "It should be," she said. "These guys were prepared..."

"Yeah, looks like it," said Jodie. "What was going on here...?"

The salarian's arm pulled back as soon as Jodie said this, Jodie noticing that there was a light counting down on the disc of the grenade. The salarian pulled back, throwing the grenade at full force. It arced up very high, before landing right in the center of the firefight. Some of the colonists stopped firing upon seeing this, but Jodie ducked back behind cover and closed her eyes before anything else could be said.

And then, Jodie heard the incredibly loud bang. Jodie then nodded, rushing out of cover to see the smoke from the flashbang still rising. Some of the colonists were on the floor, looking stunned by the grenade. There were a few others that were quickly beginning to get their bearings, though, and Jodie knew it would only be a matter of time before the colonists were back on their feet.

Thus, she rushed out of cover, running quickly towards one of the colonists. She thought she heard the salarian hit his head on something hard for a second, but Jodie paid it no mind as she rushed forward.

As soon as Jodie rushed at one of the colonists, she grabbed his head, slamming it against the nearby crate. Jodie then turned, looking right at the colonist across the way. Said colonist was already aiming the weapon she held, but before Jodie could do much else the colonist's weapon exploded in a shower of sparks. The colonist dropped the weapon, letting out a scream as she grabbed her hands. Jodie nodded, turning her attention to a colonist that was getting up. Said colonist assumed a fighting stance quickly, though Jodie noticed that he was still wobbling on his feet. Her opponent lunged forward, throwing a punch at Jodie's direction: however, the punch was easily evaded, and Jodie grabbed his fist, dealing a karate chop directly to the side of the colonist's head.

As this colonist went down, however, Jodie was not quick enough to dodge the fist of another colonist that ran up to her. Jodie stumbled back, looking at the colonist. This one was much more alert, and Jodie was barely able to bring her arms up in time to deflect a second punch from that colonist. Jodie used the momentum from the deflected punch to spin around, catching the guy with a side kick that sent the colonist stumbling back. As the colonist stumbled back, she saw another colonist rush at her, this one brandishing a knife. Jodie waited, the colonist with the knife rushing closer and raising it.

As soon as the knife was swiping down towards her, Jodie brought both of her arms up, forming an X with them as she stopped the arm in its stabbing motion. She then kicked the colonist away, the colonist letting out a grunt as he dropped the knife. Jodie was quick to grab the knife in question, turning around and bashing the first colonist right on the side of the head. Following it up, Jodie then lunged towards the second colonist, punching the colonist right in the eye. This colonist stumbled backwards, and then Jodie followed this blow up with a jumping roundhouse kick to the head that certainly knocked him out.

She then looked behind her, nodding.  _Four down_ , she thought.  _Eight to-_

And then she was knocked off to the side, looking up at a fifth colonist. This one had an assault rifle aimed right at her, and Jodie could barely react before the colonist fired. Aiden's barrier went up immediately, but it was only able to give Jodie enough time to roll out of the way before Aiden had to defuse the barrier. Even then, Jodie felt a sharp pain fly up her left arm, and when she looked down she saw two holes from which she bled.

Jodie gritted her teeth, not allowing herself to yell in pain. Instead, she pushed herself to her feet, and threw a punch at this colonist with her good arm. She quickly turned, kicking the assault rifle away from the colonist as he stumbled back. Before Jodie could do much else, though, the colonist seized up, and Jodie saw Ashley come up behind the colonist.

They then both sank behind cover, taking stock of the colonists around them. Ashley moved forward, applying a dose of medigel to Jodie's arm. "There, that should take care of it," said Ashley.

Jodie nodded. "Thanks," she said. She then frowned. "Note to self: Aiden can't deflect mass accelerator rounds at point blank range..." She then looked over to Ashley. "We're not out of the woods yet, though, so let's do this."

Jodie then slinked out of cover, moving again. As she did, she caught sight of Kaidan. The lieutenant had taken cover behind part of the wall, but he seemed unhurt. Jodie let out a sigh of relief, and for a second she swore she saw Kaidan's gaze connect with hers. She nodded, and then turned towards the remaining colonists.

"Okay, Aiden, let's do this," she said, cracking her knuckles as she advanced towards the remaining seven colonists.

As Jodie advanced, however, they heard a loud boom. One of the colonists was then exposed, the crate she was using as cover having been knocked over. Jodie quickly advanced towards this colonist, and was able to dispatch her with a tackle followed by a headbang against the concrete. Jodie then moved on, jumping up to dodge a pistol shot from another colonist. Ashley was right behind Jodie, however, knocking out this colonist with the butt of her assault rifle.

Jodie then ran to the next colonist, ducking under the colonist's wild swing of his fist. Jodie rammed into this colonist, looking into her eyes and briefly recognizing Arcelia. Arcelia, however, was prepared, and Jodie soon felt herself knocked back. Jodie quickly got to her feet, though, looking on as Arcelia aimed her rifle at Jodie. As she did this, though, Jodie nodded over at Aiden.

In an instant, a shower of sparks erupted from Arcelia's gun, and it was enough for Jodie to come in close. Arcelia, however, was not fazed, and so she managed to deflect Jodie's punch as she went in for the blow. Jodie was then thrown to the ground by Arcelia, though Jodie was able to roll back onto her feet. She heard several mass accelerator rounds get fired, but she did not see anything impact her shields.

She then got into a fighting stance, Jodie and Arcelia circling around each other. Jodie breathed in and out slowly to calm herself, looking at Arcelia with an almost apologetic look. Nevertheless, she concentrated on Arcelia, hoping for Arcelia to make the first move.

Of course, Jodie then heard a rather strange shoving sound from the side, and before she knew it one of the remaining colonists streaked past her vision behind Arcelia. Arcelia turned in surprise to look at the colonist, but Jodie took this as her opportunity. She then stepped forward, clocking Arcelia across the face. The blow sent her down to the ground, and Jodie immediately followed this up by knocking Arcelia out with an elbow blow.

Jodie then looked over just in time to see Ashley take out one of the few remaining colonists. As she looked to Ashley, the other two were floating above her, surrounded in the blue aura typified by biotics. Jodie briefly panicked upon seeing the colonists that high, and then Jodie watched as the two were released from their hold. The colonists thankfully did not fall too far, though the cry of pain they released was troubling.

Jodie immediately ran over to both of them, checking them both for a pulse. Thankfully, they still had one, so she took that as a cue to whip out her omni-tool and administer a dose of medigel. She did this for both, sighing in relief as she looked over to Ashley. They then turned to Kaidan as he stepped out from behind cover, looking somewhat relieved. He sighed, looking at both Ashley and Jodie.

"Well, that's a relief," he said. "I couldn't get a hold of Shepard at all. I thought the colonists were going to kill us."

Jodie nodded, before frowning. "Wait, where's Wrex?" she asked.

"Probably still by the ship," said Ashley. She then looked up. "And speaking of missing people, where's Fai-?"

"Right here."

All three of them turned to see Fai Dan there. Jodie gasped in shock at the fact that he was holding a pistol, but when she looked again, she saw that the pistol was shaking. Upon a more extensive glance, Jodie also saw that Fai Dan had tears flowing out of his eyes. They were not tears of sorrow, but tears of pain, and it was something evidenced by his bloodshot eyes.

"I... I c-can't resist much longer," Fai Dan said, his voice strained. "It... It's caused all this..."

"It?" asked Ashley. "What are you talking about?"

"Ex... Miss, you asked questions..." Fai Dan said, his voice shaking as he looked at Jodie. "There's something down below... Under one of the prefabs... It's... it's controlled our minds..."

Jodie blinked in shock. "Wait, what?" she asked.

"I... I can hear the voices..." Fai Dan then let out a scream of pain, falling right to his knees. Jodie immediately moved towards Fai Dan, looking him in the eyes. "They're... they're telling me to kill you. They told all the colonists that... But... But I can't..." Fai Dan then moved the gun, his arm shaking. "I won't! I won't let it control me!"

He let out a loud cry as he slowly brought the pistol up to his own head.

Jodie's eyes widened as Fai Dan placed the barrel of the pistol against his own head. She then looked directly at the colonist in front of her, shaking her head.

"No, no, don't!" shouted Jodie. She then lunged forward. "Don't-"

And then the pistol was yanked right out of Fai Dan's hand by an invisible force. The pistol clattered on the ground behind Jodie, Fai Dan looking on in surprise. Jodie looked up, and then nodded as she then lunged for Fai Dan. Jodie then looked down at Fai Dan as she hovered over him, preparing the finishing blow.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Hopefully, we'll have this problem all sorted out when you wake up. We'll look under the prefab unit..."

And with this, Jodie punched Fai Dan hard enough to knock him out. Jodie paused a few seconds, looking down at Fai Dan as he laid there unconscious. After a few seconds, she let out a grateful sigh, moving off of Fai Dan and rolling onto her back.

"Thanks, Aiden," she said. "I guess we really did do it..."

Kaidan then looked at Ashley. "Who's she talking to?" he asked.

"I have no idea, but this has become a problem," said Ashley. She then stepped towards Jodie, looking at her angrily. "Why didn't you tell  _anybody_ about this?"

Jodie sat up, looking at Ashley. "I... It's just that-!"

"Okay, I'm just going to start by saying that  _I_ won't take any bullshit excuses from you right now," said Ashley. "What the hell is Aiden, and why didn't you tell  _anyone_ about it?"

"Whoah, whoah, calm down Ash," said Kaidan. "What's this about Aiden?"

"You didn't think that pistol got yanked out of Fai Dan's hand by itself, did you?" asked Ashley. She then turned to Jodie. "You told me you'd explain it to Kaidan anyway. Well, there he is. So what is it?"

Jodie sighed, looking down at the ground. "Aiden... He's an... entity," she said, placing her hands in her lap. "He's supernatural, probably the spirit of a dead person. Even I don't fully know what he is."

Kaidan frowned, stepping forward. "Jodie, that's..." he glanced at Fai Dan's pistol where it lay over there. "What are you-?"

And then, Jodie's omni-tool beeped loudly, and the word processing program opened. There was a message on the omni-tool's word processor. Kaidan flinched, leaning closer to see the message that was prominently displayed:

" _HI I'M AIDEN_ " _  
_

Kaidan frowned, before looking at Jodie. "Jodie, you're... You're _psychic_?" he asked.

"No, not in that sense of the word," said Jodie. "It's all Aiden: I just happen to be his...  _accessory_." Jodie chuckled bitterly, before she shifted her posture so she was on her knees. "He's an entity that I've been tethered to since the day I was born. We can't be separated. And he..." She looked down, her eyes clouding up in shame. "He can do so much, Kaidan. He can possess people, he can heal people, he can give me visions... and you've already seen other things he can do. He's... He's-"

"Something that could affect the mission, sir!" Ashley interrupted. "She didn't tell anybody that information; how can we trust her? For all we know, she might be working for someone that isn't the Alliance! We know she can't be working for Saren, but what if she's working for someone else?"

"I'm not working for anyone," said Jodie.

"And how can we be sure of that?" asked Kaidan, also giving Jodie a suspicious glance. "I explained everything to you already, Jodie. I think you and I know that this that's just popped up is a big problem, and you actively hid this from us. How can we know you're trustworthy, and that you won't subvert the mission?"

"Because I could've kept Aiden a secret here and kept my cover," said Jodie, clenching her fists. "But I couldn't do that. Not with so many colonists that would've died." She then looked up at Kaidan, her eyes watering. "I... I can't let civilians die for my secret. That... that would be  _wrong_..."

Kaidan's frown softened slightly upon hearing this, though Ashley still looked on with an angry expression. The three of them remained silent, the air thick with the weight of Jodie's admission. "Look, I know you probably don't trust me now," Jodie continued. "Which is why I'm telling you: I don't have any designs on the Normandy. If you can't trust anything else, trust me on that."

"Then why keep this Aiden thing a secret?" asked Ashley.

"Because-"

" _Kaidan! Kaidan, are you there?_ "

Jodie, Ashley, and Kaidan all perked up, looking at Kaidan's omni-tool. The Lieutenant quickly brought his hand up to his ear, looking relieved.

"Shepard, finally!" he said. "The colonists turned on us, sir. I tried to hail you on the comms, but the communications were jammed."

" _Blame the geth for that,_ " said Shepard. " _The colonists turned on you?_ "

"Yes, sir," said Kaidan. "We took care of it, though. As of now, they're all unconscious. We're getting ready to administer medical care to all of them."

" _You did?_ " Shepard asked. " _How?_ "

Kaidan looked over at Ashley and Jodie. Ashley's frown was plastered on her face, and by then she had holstered her assault rifle. As she crossed her arms, Kaidan then looked at Jodie.

Jodie was terrified. She had looked up for the first time since the conversation started, but Kaidan saw the way Jodie's pupils shrank. Her whole body was tense, and Kaidan could see her shaking her head. It was a frantic shake of her head, and after a few seconds, he saw her begin mouthing 'no' over and over, and Jodie nearly wanted to shout at Kaidan.

 _Please, no, don't tell him,_  she wanted to scream out.  _I can't have the Alliance knowing about me!_

Kaidan looked at her for a few seconds, his expression softening considerably. His mouth opened for a second, but he closed it immediately as he looked away from Jodie. He then sighed, nodding.

"It was Jodie, sir," he said. "She's... she's really good at stealth. She managed to sneak around and take a few of the colonists out. Without killing them, of course. Let me tell you, she's something else."

Jodie sighed in relief. " _I see,_ " said Shepard. " _I'll have to commend her personally when I get there. I thought that might've happened upon finding out what ExoGeni is up to._ "

"Really?" asked Kaidan. "What happened?"

" _There's a sentient plant right under your feet,_ " said Shepard. " _It apparently releases a spore that allows it to control the minds of everyone around it._ " He then chuckled. " _I guess I should roll out the banner for our new plant-based overlords._ "

Kaidan chuckled. "Maybe it won't come to that," said Kaidan. "Are you on your way back?"

" _We just dealt with the geth here,_ " Shepard said. " _We'll be back shortly. Tend to the colonists, and then wait for us to get there. When I get there, you'll go back to the Normandy, all right?_ "

"Yes, sir," said Kaidan. "We'll wait for you here."

" _Good,_ " said Shepard. " _I'll see you in a bit._ "

And with this, the comm link cut out.

Immediately, Ash stepped forward. "Kaidan, what did you just do?" she asked angrily. "Jodie's secret could be-"

"I believe her, Ash," Kaidan said. "I know you're worried, but she's right. She could have chosen to maintain her cover here, but she didn't. How many agents do you know would admit to something like this to save civilians?"

Ashley paused, looking at Kaidan. "That doesn't mean anything," she said. "She could be hiding her real mission still. You don't know that, sir."

"I don't either, but I think she would have revealed that by now," he said. He shook his head. "Look, I know you're concerned about the mission, Ash, but whatever Jodie is, I don't think she's a threat to the mission. I think we can trust her."

Jodie nodded, closing her eyes as she let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, sir," she said. "I just... please don't tell anyone. I can't risk that... I'll tell others myself, but please don't tell anyone."

Ashley frowned. "When Shepard finds out, he  _won't_ be happy, you know," she said, shaking her head in dismay. "And neither will most of Alliance command."

"Maybe," said Kaidan. "But if it won't threaten the mission, then I don't believe it will be a problem." He then turned to Jodie. "It won't threaten the mission, will it?"

"He won't," said Jodie. "I can make sure of that."

"Then I think that's that," said Kaidan. "If you have any other questions, take it up with her. For now, we should wait for Shepard."

"And Wrex," said Ashley. "Speaking of which, where is he?"

The three of them then looked around, seeing no sign of the big krogan anywhere. They then looked around for a few seconds, Jodie's shoulders sagging as they waited for an answer.

They got it a few seconds later when the big krogan walked around the prefab building by the barricade, looking quite pleased with himself. He had a few splatters of white on his armor and Jodie thought she saw orange blood trickling from one of his biceps, but otherwise the krogan looked sated. He then looked all around him, and his smile fell somewhat. He looked around for a few seconds, before turning to Jodie and Kaidan.

"What?" asked Wrex. "The fight's over already?"

"Unfortunately," said Jodie as she stood up. "I take it you took care of all of those white things?"

"Yeah," said Wrex. "They went down in one shot, though. Weak. But there were  _lots_ of them!" He then smiled heartily. "And with that many there, they put up a good fight."

"Glad to hear it," said Kaidan. "We're just waiting for Shepard to come back. Once there, we'll be heading back to the Normandy."

"Already?" asked Wrex. "That's disappointing."

"A little," said Ashley darkly as she shot a glare at Jodie and Kaidan. "A little."

Jodie sighed, shaking her head as she brushed some dust off of her armor. "Well, we've seen quite a lot of action today," she said. "I think you got in one good fight for the road, though, right?"

"Yep," said Wrex. "I imagine it'll be the kind of thing I'll tell the bartender if I ever get drunk enough to admit that."

"Maybe," said Jodie. "We should check on the colonists, make sure most of them are still alive by this point."

"Of course," said Kaidan. "Come on."

And with this, the four ground team members moved around the colony, checking on the various colonists and waiting for Shepard to finally arrive back from deep within Feros.


	13. Chapter 12

Once Shepard came to relieve them of duty, Jodie did not have to wait long before she was sitting in the comms room for debriefing. She sat in her usual spot, being the subject of a suspicious glance from Ashley much of the time. Jodie simply kept her gaze trained on Shepard, though she looked over at Tali and Liara on occasion as he debriefed them.

"So now that you have this...  _cypher_ implanted in your mind, you can think like a Prothean," Jodie began, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

"Sounds strange, but there it is," said Shepard. He shook his head. "I still can't make any sense of the vision I got from the beacon, though."

Liara paused, before standing up. "If you wish, Commander, I can help you make sense of that vision," she said. "After all, you only did just receive the cypher. You may need a little help there."

Shepard nodded. "Anything to help me make sense of it would be appreciated, Liara," he said.

Liara nodded, walking up to the Commander and standing in front of him. "All right," she said. "You did this with Shiala on Feros, this should not be too different. Tr to relax, imagine the universe as one large entity of energy. Imagine that you are everything, Shepard..." Liara paused for a few seconds, closing her eyes as she took Shepard's hands in his. Liara then opened her eyes, and when she did Jodie noticed that her eyes were completely black.

"Embrace eternity!"

Shepard jolted, but remained in place while maintaining constant eye contact with Liara. Jodie leaned forward in curiosity, seeing how Shepard and Liara stood in the room in the middle of a trance-like state. She thought she saw Tali fidget nervously, but otherwise the rest of the room was content with watching Shepard and Liara do their thing in the center of the room. Jodie shifted, watching as a little biotic energy seemed to lightly caress the air around them.

After a few seconds, the display ended, and Liara took a couple of steps back. After a bit, she breathed in and out, her eyes returning to normal as she looked at Shepard.

"Goddess..." she said. "Shepard, there's... It's no wonder the prothean beacon did not fry your mind. You... How do you live with such weight on your mind?"

"Such weight...?" Tali leaned forward. "What are you talking about?"

"I... There's a lot of  _anger_ in there..." said Liara. "And also a lot of pain. Just looking at some parts of his mind caused me immense pain."

"Immense pain?" asked Kaidan, looking at Liara in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"I couldn't get anything definitive," Liara replied, shaking her head. "But..."

"It's... something that will not be discussed," said Shepard. "There's too much there, and I don't want to talk about it." Jodie noticed his brows furrowing instantly, his expression darkening immensely. "That's an order, by the way. And if you disobey it, "

The whole room paused, looking at Shepard for a few seconds. Shepard glared at the rest of the ground team, and Jodie felt actual goosebumps crawl all over her skin. She found herself glancing at Kaidan in confusion, the Lieutenant returning the confused glance. Finally, Jodie fidgeted where she stood, before coughing nervously.

"Well... Yes, sir," she said. Aiden clicked once awkwardly, and for once Jodie could not fault the entity that one utterance.

"Good." With this, Shepard turning back to look at Liara, his gaze softening dramatically. "Now, as you were saying..."

"Ah, right," said Liara. She coughed awkwardly, looking right at Shepard as she continued. "You must have a strong will, commander. It's the only reason I can think of for why the prothean beacon did not... well, I hear that it can kill people with a weaker will than yours."

"Well, I suppose that's good," said Shepard. "Did you make any sense of it?"

"No," said Liara. She frowned. "The vision... it looks like it was incomplete. There are several important chunks missing from it." She then shook her head. "Whatever fragments are missing, Saren must have looked for them somewhere else. I don't know where..."

"So we haven't made much progress at all," said Kaidan.

"Not quite," said Jodie. "Saren's probably still looking for the rest of the information. If we can find where he went to get that information, we'll be able to complete the vision, right?"

"Something like that," said Liara. "Wherever it is... Oh..." She then stumbled to the side, Garrus and Jodie both rushing forward to catch her as she fell.

Shepard took a step towards her. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"I... I'm fine..." Liara gave a few labored breaths, closing her eyes. "Sorry, the meld can be exhausting. I just need to rest a little."

Shepard nodded. "I'll have Dr. Chakwas prepare a berth," he said, quickly opening his omni-tool and typing a few things on it. He then looked to the others. "And then there's the matter of ExoGeni, and the colony."

"Shiala is staying behind to make sure it survives, right?" asked Tali.

"If you ask me, that's probably good news for them," Garrus said. "And with ExoGeni agreeing to help rebuild the colony..."

"Let's just hope they don't get into any more fishy business," said Jodie. "That's... that's the  _last_ thing they need."

"I couldn't agree more," said Shepard. "I'll keep my eyes glued on any news out of Zhu's Hope. If I hear anything out of ExoGeni that's suspicious, they'll be hearing from me about it." He then nodded to everyone as he finished typing his message. He then closed his omni-tool. "Well, if that is everything, that will end this debrief. Good job, everyone. We were caught off guard, but we made the best of the situation. We'll wait for the Council to give us another lead, but for now... I guess we just wait. You are dismissed."

And with this, Jodie nodded. She then looked to Garrus, and then the two of them helped Liara out of the comms room.

* * *

"Sometimes the meld can be rather exhausting... I apologize."

Liara said this as she sat up on the berth, rubbing both of her temples. Garrus and Jodie sat close by, with Dr. Chakwas standing there holding a datapad. Jodie shrugged, looking at Liara calmly.

"Oh, no, it's no trouble at all," said Jodie. She then nodded. "It's been a strange day for all of us." She frowned, looking over at Garrus and Liara. "You talked to this...  _thorian_ , right?"

"Yeah," said Garrus, leaning back against the wall. "He was actually kind of nice. He sent all his servants at us, his butler was nice-looking... It's just too bad they were trying to kill us, I was looking forward to sitting down and..." He paused. "Tea and crumpets? Is that how it goes?"

Jodie chuckled, putting a hand over her mouth. "Yeah, that's how it goes," said Jodie. She then looked over at Liara. "But honestly, it's a relief that that's all it was. It was..."

"It must've been chaotic when the colonists first turned," said Liara.

"It was even worse when those...  _creepers_ came up," said Jodie. "Wrex dealt with a lot of them, but... Well, I'm just glad I only had to deal with the colony." She then looked over at Liara. "I've... I've never seen an asari meld with someone before."

"Well, normally it's a much more private thing," Dr. Chakwas chimed in. "But now that you have seen it, I imagine you understand a little more about the process."

Jodie nodded. "So what do you see in there, if you don't mind my asking?" Jodie asked.

"You see lots of things," said Liara. "But perhaps the most important part? You see into their mind during the meld. There are times where it can be rather intimate, actually, but I tried to keep it from going there with Shepard."

Jodie frowned, leaning forward. "Wait, really?" she asked. "I mean... I heard that sexual reproduction for the asari is done that way, but..."

"Well, it does not have to happen that way," said Liara.

"Yeah, that's what I've heard," said Garrus. "How does that work?"

"A bit of self-control on my part," said Liara, crossing her arms. "It's all about restraint, really." She then shrugged, looking at Jodie.

"So can you actually see into someone's memories?" Jodie asked.

"That was one of the main things," said Liara. "You can see any memory that a person has, oftentimes in extremely vivid detail. Sometimes it takes a little prying, but... most times, an asari can see anyone's memories. It's why I could see the visions from the beacon."

Jodie looked down at the ground, and then she heard Aiden give an uncertain gurgle.  _Well, it would certainly help with telling her the truth_ , she thought, drumming her hands against the med bay.  _And since Kaidan and Ashley already know, I get the feeling the rest of the crew might have to find out soon enough..._ Aiden clicked dimly, and then she was greeted with silence from the entity afterwards.

Jodie then leaned forward. "And if these memories are more... guarded?" she asked.

Liara sighed, looking between the two of them. "Then you see what I saw in Shepard's mind," she said. "Just... doors everywhere."

"Really?" Garrus asked. "I thought that doors was just something that was used as a point of comparison for the rest of us..."

"Well, they are," said Liara. "But we face similar resistance whenever we encounter something guarded." She then looked down. "A lot of what I saw in Shepard's mind... he was extremely guarded about it, but there was something about the way he was guarded about it. I don't know what it is, but it's like he was able to actively keep me away from even venturing towards it."

"So the Commander has secrets, huh?" asked Garrus. "Well... I guess that would make for  _very_ interesting talk back at the work place."

Jodie looked over at Garrus. "Really?" he asked. "Why's that?"

"There's been talk about the Commander's past," said Dr. Chakwas. "See, before he was found on Virmire as a young boy, there's no record of him anywhere. We don't know where he's from, we don't know what happened to him, and he often does not talk about it."

"Oh..." Jodie rubbed her chin, leaning back where she sat. "So there's talk that there's something fishy going on?"

"Pretty much," said Garrus. "Some of them are wondering if he's even human, but he shoots and bleeds just like other humans."

"Well, he has that lightsaber-looking thing," Jodie pointed out. "You know, the one he used at the C-SEC office."

"Hm... That's true," Garrus said. "There's been nobody who's been able to explain the origins of that thing. Shepard has never given it up to anyone, so it's clear that there's something he doesn't want to talk about."

"But it's not threatening the galaxy," said Jodie.

"If he is a threat to the galaxy, he hasn't made any overtures to that effect," said Dr. Chakwas. "Either way, he's done a lot for humanity ever since then. He was the Lion of Elysium, after all."

Jodie nodded. "I suppose so," she said, smiling. "Whatever baggage he's got, he's probably doing something to make it all better." She then looked at Liara. "But no, you can see his memories."

"Yes," said Liara. "At least some of them. And with that, we may be able to get a lead on Saren."

"Yeah," said Jodie. "And then we can stop him, right?"

"That we can," said Garrus as he stood up. "Well, I need to go calibrate the Mako. I'll be down there if you need me."

"And I... well, I haven't eaten yet," said Jodie. She also stood up, but leaned forward and patted Liara on the leg. "Rest."

"Thank you," Liara replied, laying back on the berth. "You too. You did very well out there today. You deserve it."

Jodie smiled, and then she and Garrus exited the med bay. Garrus nodded to Jodie as they walked into the body of the mess hall, and then the turian turned to Jodie.

"Yeah, I have to say that as well," said Garrus. "I guess it's a good thing you managed to stop the civilians without killing them."

"It is," said Jodie, smiling. "I'll see you around, Garrus."

"Same here," said the turian. He then turned to the elevator, pressing the call button to go down.

Jodie stood there for a couple of seconds, and then turned right as soon as the elevator doors opened. She made straight for the energy bars, once again picking one out and looking at the other items. After a little hesitation, she picked up one of the vacuum-packed packets of juice that was there, and then made her way to the table.

She had just sat down to eat when she saw someone in her peripheral vision. When she looked up, she blinked as she saw Shepard standing right there.

"Oh, Shepard!" said Jodie. "You caught me off guard there."

"Well, it's good I did," he said. He then sat down across from Jodie, looking at her intently. Jodie blinked, hearing Aiden click uncertainly as she looked at the commander. "I wanted to congratulate you on taking care of those colonists with no casualties."

"Oh, um... thank you," said Jodie. She let out a nervous chuckle. "Normally, things don't... Well, I got a little lucky, I'll admit."

"Just a little," said Shepard. "You must have some unnatural skills to be able to do that."

"Well, that's... up for debate," said Jodie, giving what she hoped was a disarming smile. "Did the colonists say anything when they regained consciousness?"

"Not really," he said. "Only that they had hazy memory of what happened when the thorian controlled their minds."

Jodie shrugged. "Well, I'm glad they're all safe nevertheless," Jodie said. "I had to convince Ashley not to shoot them."

Shepard nodded. "It's good that you did," he said. He then stood up. "Well, I'm going off. I have some important calls to make. You take care, Jodie." He then paused as he stood up. "And thank you. You've proved your worth by now."

And with this, he walked away from the table. Jodie glanced at the floor, hearing Aiden gurgle in confusion. Jodie nodded, and then shrugged.  _Well... At least he still doesn't seem to know,_  she thought.  _That'll make it better, really. Just you wait._

Aiden clicked once, but Jodie ignored it as she began opening the wrapper of the energy bar.

* * *

Jodie finished the energy bar, feeling rather full after eating it. It was not much, but Jodie found that energy bars in the future seemed to be way more filling than they had in the past. She always wondered how that was: after all, those energy bars were not much bigger than some of the things she had seen back home. She made a mental note to search more information about it online, for she doubted anyone on the ship's crew would really know how those things were made.

Either way, Jodie found it to be delicious as always. And after eating it, she found herself looking over to the wall behind which Kaidan worked when he was not on a ground team.

She then sighed, standing up and walking over to Kaidan with a slight spring in her step. She saw him looking intently at the same bunch of wires behind the panel, his omni-tool open and flashing light into the panel with all the wires. Jodie stepped forward, Kaidan glancing over at her as she came closer before turning his attention back to the panel.

"You know, if you work on this thing constantly, the rest of the crew might not get to talk to you," said Jodie.

Kaidan shrugged. "It's something I do to pass the time," he said. "I think you know I don't always hang out here."

"Hm... Fair," said Jodie. "What do you need help with?"

"Eh..." Kaidan squinted, looking inside. "Today I've been having trouble threading this one wire through this panel to connect it somewhere." Jodie then leaned closer as Kaidan pointed at the wires. Deep within the mess, she saw a single band of copper alloy sticking out, as if it was the end of its own wire. "I got it in there yesterday because I need to make a connection somewhere in there, but I can't seem to-"

And then, right before their eyes, the wire moved of its own accord. This effectively interrupted Kaidan, and before long both of them could see the yellow plastic that surrounded the rest of the wire. Jodie looked slightly above the wire, hearing Aiden click happily. Kaidan looked at that direction for a second, before reaching his hand forward to grab the wire.

"Um... thanks, Jodie," Kaidan said, his voice a little more hushed than before. He chuckled, and then threaded the wire the rest of the way and began connecting it to a connection port. "Must be useful to have it around."

Jodie sighed. "Not... really," she said in a quiet tone, looking up at Aiden. "Sometimes he can be a bit problematic. Normally he's a troublemaker, actually." She sighed. "I'm just glad he's behaved so far."

"Yeah, you said you could control it," said Kaidan. "Or something to that effect."

"I'm the only one he listens to," said Jodie. "Guess it comes as being part of being bound to him for as long as I can remember..." She sighed. "It's made my life difficult."

"And it's why you're sheltered," said Kaidan. "I'm sorry you have to deal with that."

"No, don't be," said Jodie. "It's... It's mostly in the past now. Going forward, that's all I can really think of..." She sighed. "But I do sometimes wonder what would've been..."

"How come?" asked Kaidan.

"Well..." Jodie glanced around the area, before leaning close to Kaidan. "This area of the ship isn't bugged, is it?"

Kaidan chuckled. "I don't think you'll have to worry about bugs," he said. "The Alliance isn't Big Brother, you know."

Jodie frowned. "Really?" she asked. "But they'd have every reason to be suspicious of all the aliens around here, right?"

"Yeah, and it's also a prototype," said Kaidan. "Most advanced ship in the fleet. I think they trust Shepard with making sure everything is in its right place, and that nobody is intent on stealing it."

Jodie sighed. "If you're sure," she said. She then leaned closer, almost whispering to Kaidan. "Aiden has... He's the kind of person where I have a tough time in relationships around him. Most of my relationships have only been business relationships for that reason. He... He has a funny way of rooting out people." She paused. "I think I told Ashley about this, but I was adopted. Twice."

Kaidan looked over at her in shock. "Twice?" he asked.

"My first adoptive parents couldn't take the strain of dealing with Aiden," Jodie replied. "My mother did her best, but my father..." She shook her head, looking down at the ground as she held her arms. "He often called me a monster because of Aiden."

"Jodie..." said Kaidan, his voice softening in concern.

Jodie shook her head. "I say I was adopted twice," she said. "Mostly, I was transferred to a facility that was looking into paranormal activity. There were two scientists there. Nathan and Cole. They essentially became my adopted parents." Jodie glanced to the side. "My mother and my father both left me in their care when I was eight years old. And on the day they said goodbye..." Jodie paused, slowly sliding down the wall she leaned against to come to a sitting position.

"My father had tried to be loving about it," Jodie said. "Try not to traumatize me, you know? But Aiden... I guess he had just had enough of the stuff my father had shouted at me before then. As he was walking out... Aiden choked him."

Kaidan leaned forward. "It can do that?" he asked.

"Yes," said Jodie. "And when Aiden was finished... The floodgates opened. It was bad enough that he called me a monster as he was ushered out, but... but my adopted mother..." Jodie took in a ragged breath. "I'll never forget her expression. She was just so... so  _hurt_. And I saw her ask 'why'..." Jodie shook her head. "Even an eight year old girl can pick up on things like that. And... well..." Jodie chuckled bitterly. "He's isolated me just with the fact that he exists. I had a tough time making friends growing up, and even when I was an adult it made things difficult to be with Aiden."

Kaidan nodded. "I see," he said. "I... I'm sorry you had to deal with that."

"It's all in the past," said Jodie. "You don't have to apologize for anything." She then sighed, looking over at Kaidan. "I... I guess you'd have some experience with that, being a biotic and all?"

"Well, I definitely didn't have my biotics single me out, that's for sure," said Kaidan. "No, my situation was different. But even with that..." He then glanced at the ground, looking at Kaidan. "It was..."

Jodie fidgeted as Kaidan took a place next to her. Jodie then leaned forward. "Um... do you mind if I ask what happened?" Jodie asked.

"Well, you already mentioned something about your past," Kaidan said. "It wouldn't be fair of me to hold mine back after that."

Jodie nodded. "Fair enough," she said. "What happened?"

"Well, I'm sure you know how humans get biotics," he said. "My mother was in an accident, and was exposed to eezo. I was one of the lucky ones who didn't get terminal brain cancer."

"So something similar," said Jodie. "What happened then?"

"I was sent to an installation on Gagarin Station," Kaidan continued. "Formally, it was called BAaT. We called it brain camp. First thing we knew was a bunch of suits at our front door. Next thing I knew, we were on Jump Zero."

Jodie nodded. "It must have been rough," she said.

"It was once we got there," said Kaidan. "We were all...  _trained_ at brain camp. Our teacher was a turian named Vyrnnus. He was a good biotic, but he fought in the First Contact War. He... He didn't exactly like humans. Even introduced himself to one of the others by saying that he commanded the dreadnaught that killed his father."

Jodie gasped. "Oh no..." she said. "I... It couldn't have been that bad, would it?"

Kaidan sighed in response. "I had a good friend there," he said. "Rahna. She and I were on the same boat, and we... well, we bonded over that. You tended to get close to your friends in brain camp. You were all you had." He paused. "Through all the training we had to do... We had that. But..." He paused here, looking away from Jodie. As he did this, Jodie noticed him pull his knees close. "There was one day when Vyrnnus made us do an excercise. We had to build something up without making a mistake. Vyrnnus offered glasses of water to those that finished the task the way he wanted them."

"And that was with biotics," Jodie supplied.

"Yeah," said Kaidan. "Rahna got tired, and Vyrnnus... He taunted her with a glass of water. She was so tired she tried to reach for it with her hands. When she did that, Vyrnnus broke her arm."

Jodie brought a hand up to her mouth, Aiden clicking in alarm. "Oh my God..." she said. "Why... why did they let him near you people?"

"I don't know," said Kaidan. "And it's not my place to ask why."

"But... But that was cruel!" said Jodie.

"That's similar to what I said," said Kaidan, looking up. "I got... angry. I got very angry at Vyrnnus, such that I fought back. That was when he pulled a knife in me. He managed to slice me, but I got him with a biotically enhanced kick." He paused, looking ahead of him. "It snapped his neck. He died pretty quickly..."

Jodie took in a sharp breath, and she instinctively edged away from him. "Oh my... Oh my God..." she said.

"The program was shut down pretty quickly after that," Kaidan continued. "And I never heard from any of my friends from brain camp again. Especially not Rahna..."

Jodie nodded, glancing down at the ground. "I... I'm sorry," she said.

"Don't be," said Kaidan. "It's in the past now."

"Even so..." Jodie shook her head. "That's awful."

"Well, it wasn't easy," said Kaidan. He then shrugged. "But I think in the end, we just move on. It's all we can really do."

"Yeah, I guess so," said Jodie. She paused, looking over at Kaidan. She hesitated, bringing one of her hands out. When she did, she touched his shoulder gingerly. "You ever wonder what it would've been like if things had been different?"

"Sometimes," said Kaidan. He did not shy away from Jodie's touch; instead, he turned to look at her, a kindly expression on her face. "I wonder what would've happened if I had never been a biotic." He then paused, looking at Jodie. "I guess you think the same thing about Aiden sometimes?"

"I used to dream all the time about that," said Jodie. "Of what life would be like without Aiden. I... I always wanted to be normal. Like other girls my age."

Kaidan chuckled darkly. "Well, in this galaxy, I don't think there's any kind of normal out there," he said. "Even if I had never been a biotic, I still would've had something interesting happen in my life, and I'm sure you would've had something interesting happen to you too. Even if you were like others."

"Maybe," said Jodie. She sighed, glancing up as she removed her hand from Kaidan's shoulder. "Well... I guess that's all I really need to say." She then looked over at Kaidan. "Thanks. That's... that's what I needed."

"For what?" asked Kaidan.

"To not feel totally alone," she said.

Kaidan reached at Jodie's own shoulder, shifting his posture so he looked Jodie directly in the eyes. "Well, Jodie, don't forget that no one is really alone," he said. "If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask me."

Jodie nodded, giving a genuine smile for the first time in what felt like ages. "I won't," she said. "Trust me on that."

Kaidan nodded, patting Jodie's shoulder. "Good." He then stood up, offering a hand to Jodie. Jodie took the hand, and then the two of them walked away from the panel Kaidan had been working on.

Jodie frowned as she realized this, and then she pointed at the panel. "Kaidan?" she asked. "The panel isn't-"

"The panel can wait," said Kaidan. "For now, I think I have some crew to talk to. You going downstairs?"

Jodie shrugged. "Maybe," she said. "There might be something I'll have to-"

And then, Jodie's omni-tool pinged. The two of them stopped, and then Jodie brought up her arm to see that she had a new message.

As she opened it, Kaidan frowned. "Who's that?" asked Kaidan.

Jodie opened the message, and then smiled upon seeing the sender. "It's a quarian friend of mine on the Citadel," Jodie said. "We shared a room at a shelter for some time. We've been keeping in touch ever since I boarded the Normandy."

"Oh." Kaidan smiled warmly. "Well, looks like you're finally getting to be like other girls, then."

Jodie chuckled. "Yeah, I think so," she said. She then nodded. "Well, I have to read this message and reply. But thanks, Kaidan. For listening."

Kaidan nodded. "You take care of yourself, Jodie," he said. "For all of us."

And with this, he walked towards the elevator. Instead of walking over to one of the tables, though, Jodie lingered, watching as the elevator doors closed. When Kaidan stepped in and turned around, he offered a glance and a slight nod to Jodie. Jodie could not help but return the gesture with an almost unnoticeable bow. She looked up to see Kaidan smiling warmly at her as the elevator doors closed.

It was a gaze that made her heart skip a beat.

Jodie then sighed happily, smiling in contentment as she turned and walked over to the tables at the mess hall again. She then looked at her omni-tool arm, opening the message from Kalo'Veera and feeling quite happy. She paused first, glancing up at Aiden with a rather amused expression, before she then heard him click. This was an annoyed click, but Jodie was too happy to really comment.

As such, she turned her attention to her omni-tool. She opened Kalo's message, and her smile grew ever broader as she read Kalo's latest message.

" _Jodie,_

_It relieves me to know my message was not ill-timed, then. It seems that I always worry too much about that. I will try not to worry about it._

_No, I was worried because I did see some shipmaster about it again. I... I_ still  _do not have the funds to purchase a ship. What made it worse was that the volus in charge of the shop called C-SEC on me when I tried to point out what the issue was. I tried to explain it to them, but they marched me out of there, and I was warned never to step foot in there again. It... I do not know, Jodie, it seems awfully strange that he would do that. And now I cannot go back there... There are other shops on the Citadel, of course, but that one was the one that had what I needed._

 _It's worrisome, Jodie, and... Well, I wish I had someone I could've talked to._ "

Jodie paused upon reading just that much, her hand rubbing her temples. "Dammit..." she whispered. She let out a lengthy breath, looking up at Aiden. "Maybe we should help him with that next time we're on the Citadel?"

Aiden clicked once, and Jodie could only nod in response. She then turned her attention back to the message.

" _I thought you would be interested in that, but... You and I do not really have a way to talk face to face from such a long distance, no? If you have anything, let me know, and... well, I will talk to you through that, if you wish._

_I see about your secret. I shall not pry any further, though it makes me glad to hear that you intend to tell me first. I am used to hearing rather important news in rather impersonal ways, but I shall not begrudge you that. Though, I suspect that part of it is that it is also difficult to discuss this secret over an extranet message. And 'if you have any control over it'... You make it sound like the Normandy's crew may discover this secret first._

_I searched this "Beck" artist you told me about. It is rather interesting music, actually. Perhaps it is a little simple for my taste, but the lyrics are rather interesting. I think I have indeed found new music to listen to, considering that there are plenty of these 'albums' of his. Thank you, Jodie._

_I do find it strange what people will judge another for, really. Being a quarian, I do unfortunately have to deal with it on the Citadel. Still, it is nice to see the exceptions to the rule, as I have with you. Maybe there will be others..._

_Well, whatever the case, I will try to keep in contact. It is good that you are finding leads on Saren: more has come to light in the media about some of his past... deeds. Some of them do not sound all that good._

_And if you are ever on the Citadel, please do let me know._

_Your friend,_

_Kalo'Veera._ "

Jodie sighed, looking at Kalo's message with a rather plain expression on her face. She then closed the message out, pondering how best to reply to the message. Shaking her head, she thought back to her omni-tool, and then something occurred to her.

 _You know, I haven't really checked the news lately_... she thought. She then opened her omni-tool, opening it to an application she had downloaded from one of the larger news corporations of the galaxy.  _I should do that really fast_...

And so, she opened it, and then started looking at various headlines.

* * *

It eventually turned into Jodie listening to a live news feed in the Mako. Jodie found the privacy was nice, but what was even better was that she could listen to the broadcasts in peace. Garrus had allowed her the Mako, given that he was finishing calibrations. And while she did have to ensure that her omni-tool was always on to allow light into the compartment, Jodie found it was a cozy space when it was as empty as it was at that moment.

And thus, she listened on in peace, one of her legs extended across the seats and her back leaning against one of the walls of the Mako. And it was so that she listened to the broadcast...

" _When pressed for an explanation, Councillor Sparatus declined to comment any further. We can only hope for a more detailed explanation of his conversation with the Primarch in the coming days. Back to you, Gregor._ "

" _Thank you, Lalia. I_ _n other news: vessels of various species affiliations have been reported missing recently. We do not have much information about it at this time, but authorities have confirmed that the last known location of at least a few of these ships was the Armstrong Nebula. There have also been reports of increased geth activity from that sector of the galaxy, but at this time-_ "

And then, Jodie heard a sharp knock right around the entry port of the Mako. Jodie sat up, putting her foot back on the floor of the vehicle as she quickly turned the volume of the broadcast down. "Yes?"

The port opened, and then Jodie saw Ashley there. Jodie blinked, before Ashley made her way in there. "Good, you're here," said Ashley. "Garrus said you might be here. It's good you were still here."

"Well, I am here," said Jodie as Ashley closed the port behind her. "Is there something you wanted to ask me about?"

"Lots of things," said Ashley as she settled into the chair next to Jodie. She then glanced behind her, before then leaning forward. "About that Aiden thing you've got floating around."

Jodie sighed, already dreading where the conversation was headed. "What did you want to ask?" she said.

"A lot," said Ashley. "Mainly about your intent with it. You're right that you could have kept it secret, but I still don't know if I should trust you. Or it."

Jodie frowned. "Is it because I never mentioned anything about why I kept Aiden secret?"

"Yes," said Ashley. "No matter what, the fact of the matter is that I don't know if I should trust you. You kept Aiden a secret from all of us. What else can I be sure about? If you're working for someone else, then how do we know you didn't lie about the fact that you don't work for anyone?"

Jodie sighed. "That's... that's why I didn't tell," she said.

"So you  _do_ work for-"

"No," said Jodie, shaking her head. "I wanted to hide it because that would mean I  _wouldn't_ work for anyone."

Ashley then sat back, her brows furrowing in confusion. "What?" she asked. "Jodie, what are you talking about?"

"The Alliance," said Jodie as she glanced to the side. "I... Who knows what they'd do with me if they ever found out about Aiden? About what he's capable of."

Ashley's frown intensified. She leaned forward, shifting her posture. "Jodie, what?" she asked. "You think the Alliance would...?"

"It's... it's what  _they_  did to me back home," said Jodie as she looked away, the guilt already making her heart pound faster. "It's what the Alliance would too, if they knew what Aiden was capable of."

"No, no, Jodie, wait," said Ashley. She then put a hand on Jodie's forearm, looking at her with concern. "That's... With all due respect, Jodie, that's the biggest pile of bullshit I've ever heard. The Alliance is a military outfit. You have to know they wouldn't do anything like that. They'd... they'd be a terrible outfit if they did."

"Maybe," said Jodie. "But I can't let them know about Aiden. Better to be safe than sorry, right?"

"But... but you saved those colonists with this thing," said Ashley. "I'm sure the Alliance would do something good with that."

"Aren't they constantly keeping you demoted because of your grandfather?" Jodie asked.

Ashley frowned. "That doesn't mean they're not a good military," said Ashley. "Jodie, they... they've done good things, eveven despite all the crap they've put me through. They wouldn't... well, they would have you follow orders, but most of their orders are-"

"That's... that doesn't help..." Jodie shook her head. "I can't let them know about me. They'd just use me to do their dirty work." Jodie then stood up. "Now... I think I-"

But before Jodie could exit, Ashley's hand extended out, and she caught Jodie by the arm. Jodie noticed that there was a tense frown on Ashley's face, and the hand on her arm left her firmly in place. Ashley's expression gradually shifted into one of concern, however, and as Jodie was gently pulled back into the seat, Ashley shifted so she could sit closer to Jodie.

"Jodie, they..." She shook her head. "What makes you say that?"

Jodie sighed as she slowly settled back into the chair. "Do... do you really want to know?" she asked.

"Yes," said Ashley. "I just... This looks like it's been weighing heavily on your mind."

Jodie nodded. "I... You may want to settle in, then," she said. "It's a long story, and I'm not sure if you'll believe me with part of it."

Ashley settled back in the seat of the Mako. "Well, Garrus doesn't need to calibrate the Mako for some time, and I don't think anyone will need to use it, so..." Ashley leaned forward. "What happened?"

Jodie sighed softly, before turning her attention to Ashley. "Well, the first thing you should know about me..." She shook her head. "I'm... I'm not technically from this time period."

Ashley frowned. "What?" she asked. "That's... do you honestly think I'm going to believe that?"

"No," said Jodie. "And I don't believe it myself. But it's... it's the truth..." Jodie looked at Ashley. "I'd show you the truth, but Aiden can't project visions onto any other person."

"Visions?" Ashley asked.

"Aiden can sort of see into the past and let me see what happened," said Jodie. She shook her head. "That's beside the point, though. The truth is... well, I was taken into a lab at a very young age for a department that you might not have heard of. It was the DPA, and-"

"The Department of Paranormal Activity?" asked Ashley. "You mean that actually existed?"

"For me, anyway," said Jodie. "Things changed in this universe, Ashley. Believe me, I checked for all the people I knew, they were in different places when I did." She then frowned. "Now I'm almost afraid to know what the DPA was..."

"Something the conspiracy theorists sometimes talk about," said Ashley. "I never believed them." She shook her head. "Sorry, not the point. I... So you're actually from the past, and you were taken in by a department that investigated the supernatural." Ashley rubbed her temples. "Are you sure I shouldn't just call the mental hospital now?"

"Well, you've seen Aiden in action, right?" Jodie asked.

"Hm... Yeah, I guess that's true," Ashley conceded. "I don't think it accounts for the memories, but I have seen strange things around you." She then paused, rubbing her chin. "And I guess it would explain why Kaidan can't find too many records of you before your time on the Citadel."

"There you go," said Jodie. She then glanced down. "I... I was left in the care of two scientists there when I was eight years old. They're the people I knew as my fathers." She paused, hugging herself softly.

"I see," said Ashley. "Heh, and here I thought your fathers were... well..."

"No, it was nothing like that," said Jodie. "Nathan was married with a teenage daughter when I first came to him. That's another story..." Jodie shook her head. "Anyway, when I was a teenager, I had to go clean out a DPA facility. Something had gone awry with one of their experiments, and I was the one called in to fix their mess."

"As a  _teenager_?" Ashley asked.

"Well, I had graduated from high school by then, so it wasn't that big a deal," Jodie said. "He actually didn't want me to go at first, but... I was the only one who had any connection to the infraworld."

"Infraworld?" Ashley asked.

"It's that name the DPA scientists gave to what lies beyond," Jodie said. "Anyway... a few weeks later, I was recruited to the CIA."

"The CIA?" asked Ashley. "Jodie, that is ancient, and it was renamed when UNAS was formed... I don't know how you remember that, but..."

"Well, I don't think I'll ever convince anyone of that," said Jodie. "I mean, I don't think any sane human would buy that, quite frankly."

"Maybe not," said Ashley. She sighed. "This is a lot to trust your word on, but... I don't know. Something about you..." She sighed. "I shouldn't be trusting you with that, but I guess I do. I don't know, I'll have to think about it."

"Well, that's good," said Jodie as she looked at the ground. "It'll make explaining the next stuff a little easier..." She then sighed, closing her eyes and hugging herself. "I... When I was with the CIA, I... They sent me on a mission. Going into it, I should have known something fishy was going on. They took advantage of that..."

"What was the mission?" asked Ashley.

"I was... I was sent to assassinate a warlord in Somalia," she said. "Those were the mission parameters, at least. I went in, did some recon work to figure out where he was..." She paused, her eyes watering. "And along the way, I came across this boy. He was wounded and... well, I had Aiden heal him."

"Aiden can do that?" Jodie asked.

"Yes," said Jodie. "He did it to Tali when we first bumped into her." Jodie then turned. "Just... don't say anything to her, please."

Ashley frowned, but all the same she crossed her arms and allowed Jodie to continue. "So what happened then?"

"Well, this kid... His name was Salim," she said. "Looked like your average kid, you know. Just, a child caught up in a very violent place..." Jodie sniffled. "He helped me get to where I needed to go. He didn't fully understand why I was there. All he saw was some magical girl who saved his life..." Jodie glanced down at the ground. "Aiden killed him, ultimately. He possessed one of the guy's guards, and walked in and sprayed everyone full of AK-47 fire." She shook her head, feeling the tears begin to slip out. "Aiden happened to possess the  _one guy_ who was this kid's father." She then brought a hand up to her eyes, wiping a few tears away. "He helped me complete the mission, and  _that_ was the thanks I gave him..."

Ashley leaned forward. "I... I see..." she said, gingerly touching Jodie's forearm. "But I don't see why you distrust agencies because of this."

"Oh, this story isn't done," said Jodie. "Poor little Salim made me sad, but that wasn't what ultimately led to all that." She shook her head, looking at Ashley. "I was successfully extracted with only a leg injury. But when I was back on the helicopter heading home from the mission, I... I heard news." Jodie chuckled bitterly. "They told me he was a warlord." She then shook her head, her brows furrowing and her fists clenching in anger. "They had lied to me. He was the democratically elected president!"

Ashley frowned. "Wait, and it made world news?" she asked. "How did you not know about what your target really was?"

"I... I got careless," said Jodie. "I was too trusting of them. I didn't keep up with world news the way I should have. And I think the CIA took advantage of that. And of Aiden." She then looked forward. "It's true that it's partly my fault for not knowing better, but that wasn't the only part of it." Jodie shook her head. "If the CIA had never known about Aiden, I wouldn't have been drafted to the CIA. They... they brought me in because of what Aiden could do. Hell, some of my training was specifically designed to incorporate Aiden." She shook her head. "And then they used me to do their dirty work..."

Jodie shook her head, looking up at the ceiling of the Mako. "That's why I can't tell the Alliance," she said. "They'll find a way to make me do their dirty work for them. Aiden... he can do so many things that nobody else could do, and he can do it without leaving a trace." She shook her head. "Who knows what they'd do if they had access to that kind of power? I can't let that happen again. Not to me, and not to anyone else..."

Ashley nodded. "Wow..." she said. "I... I had no idea..."

"I never told you," said Jodie as her shoulders slumped. "I don't hold it against you."

"Still..." Ashley nodded, looking at her with a caring look. She then breathed in, and smiled sadly. " _That her fair form may stand and shine, m_ _ake bright our days and light our dreams, t_ _urning to scorn with lips divine t_ _he falsehood of extremes!_ "

Jodie frowned, before turning to look at Ashley. "Was that poetry?" she asked.

Ashley chuckled. "Tennyson, to be exact," she said. "I've always had a soft spot for Tennyson."

"Oh." Jodie chuckled. "I was always more of an Edgar Allen Poe person, myself."

"Hm... That doesn't surprise me as much as it probably should," Ashley replied. She then patted Jodie on the shoulder. "Look, if... I see you have your reasons. I can respect that. I don't think that the Alliance would do that to anyone, but I can see why you kept it secret." Ashley's shoulders sank. "I'm sorry."

Jodie nodded. "Don't be," she said. "I understand where you're coming from. I'd be concerned for the mission, too, because I think Saren needs to be stopped."

"Then it...  _Aiden_ won't be a problem?" Ashley asked.

"No," said Jodie. "Well, not unless he doesn't like you. He gets pretty defensive about me."

"Well, I'll be sure to avoid that," said Ashley. She sighed. "I'm going to get in so much trouble for this, but... I'll try not to tell anyone about Aiden."

"But that said, I should tell people myself," said Jodie. She nodded. "I was thinking of breaking it to Liara next. If I can share memories with her in the meld, then she'd be able to understand."

"Hm, I guess that's a good way of putting it," said Ashley. "I don't like the thought of someone prodding around in my head, but hey, I don't have any entities connected to me."

"Yeah, that's true," said Jodie as she sat back. The two women paused for a second, before Jodie sighed. "Thanks, Ashley."

"Hey, anything for a friend," said Ashley. "Now... It can't be comfortable hanging around in here, now, can it?"

"Maybe not," said Jodie. "But it was quiet."

"Fair enough," said Ashley. "Come on, I think you should get out of here."

Jodie nodded as she got to her feet. "All right," she said. "I have some stuff I need to do anyway."

And with this, Jodie gestured to Ashley. The gunnery chief stood up, going to the port. Jodie had a slight spring in her step as she exited the tank, following Ashley as she made her way over to the elevator leading back to the crew deck. Aiden clicked twice as they did this, to which Jodie could only reply with a smile.

 _Yeah, I think we've found some good friends here,_  Jodie thought in reply.  _And I get the feeling we're only going to get better with that._

* * *

" _Kalo,_

_I'm sorry to hear about that salesman. If you want, I could go over and help you with that the next time I'm on the Citadel. He won't raise the price on a human, and if I come in as someone important for you... well, it may help. Just say the word and I'll help you with that._

_I don't have any way to communicate like that right now, actually, and I don't know if I ever will. It's... I don't know. There's a kind of romanticism to this kind of thing that I kind of like. (Romanticism... that's a word I thought I'd never use.) But... if you really want to talk to me over long distances, I can probably find something to work with it. I just don't expect it'll end well: after all, we are on one of the most advanced warships in the Alliance military. But I'll see what I can do._

_Funny you should mention the Normandy's crew... well, some things happened on one of our latest field ops, and... well, two members of the ground team know about my secret now. Some things happened where I couldn't keep it a secret. I had to tell them. I'm sorry that circumstances didn't quite turn out the way I hoped, but... well, I think I'll have to settle with telling you later. But I promise you this: you'll be the first of the people outside of the Normandy to know. I promise you that._

_I'm glad you like Beck's music. He's always been one of my favorites. Hell, I sang a few of his songs when it came to playing in the Tayseri Ward. I dunno, I also feel a little affinity with some of his lyrics. It just... It probably sounds silly, but some of them sound like he was writing my life story. It just really speaks to me. I wonder, actually: is there any music that speaks to you? I'd be interested to hear it._

_I know what you mean. In my case... well, that's tied in to my secret. I'll tell you about my experiences with that when I tell you my secret. It's a long story, you know?_

_I think I have friends that could care less about it. If you want, I could tell you how to reach them. They're all on the Citadel, you see. Maybe you don't have to forge it out alone, yeah? If you want it now, one place you could start looking... there's a turian information broker on the Citadel. His name is Xerxes Garkaran. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm sure he'd be more than happy to listen: after all, he helped me out considerably when I first came to the Citadel. So... I don't actually know where his office is, but I have his contact information. I've attached it to this email, so..._

_I'll let you know when I'm on the Citadel again. I don't know when I'll be back there, but I'll try to make it soon._

_Stay safe, Kalo. You're a good friend to have._

_-Jodie Holmes._ "

Jodie read the message over one more time, before pressing the send button.

She then laid back in her pod, lost in a sea of her thoughts. They were all rather pleasant thoughts, though: so far, Aiden had not managed to deter anyone on the Normandy, and she felt her friendships with some of the crew had been strengthened. She knew it was only a matter of time before she would be obligated to tell the rest of the crew, but she felt that after Kaidan and Ashley, she would be able to go through with it.

 _Now to figure out the proper timing..._  she thought.  _Liara should definitely find out next. And then maybe I could tell Tali... Garrus and Wrex I can probably tackle at the same time... And then there's Shepard. I think he should be left for last. Or should I tell him after I tell Liara...?_

She then saw the glass of the pod she was in fog over. Jodie perked up in surprise, and then watched as Aiden wrote something in the glass very quickly.

" _DON'T TELL THE COMMANDER._ "

Jodie frowned, before shaking her head and wiping the glass. "Aiden, he'll have to find out eventually," she said. "But if it'll make you feel better, I'll tell him last."

Aiden gurgled, the sound uncertain. Jodie just shrugged it off, and laid back in the pod.

After a few minutes, she drifted off to sleep. It was the most fitful sleep she had in years.


	14. Chapter 13

The next several missions passed by Jodie in a blur. With no leads on which to pursue Saren, the Normandy had settled into a lull fulfilling lesser missions. Jodie was not brought onto the ground team for a large majority of them, but Jodie was actually very thankful for this. Reprieve was always nice for Jodie to have, and in the downtime between missions that actively hunted down Saren she found quite a bit to do.

And there was also quite a lot to think on, she realized, as she sat by the locker. Her assault rifle lay disassembled before her, and she found herself cleaning the block of the cutter that cut the rounds out of the large block of metal. She did it carefully, hoping to avoid breaking the thing as she gently massaged it with a small cloth. Jodie sighed softly, remembering how she nearly broke the thing the first time she tried to clean the rifle without Ashley's help. That had been a close call, though thankfully disaster was averted thanks to quick thinking on Aiden's part.

Nevertheless, she knew how delicate to be right then. And so, she cleaned out her rifle, wondering if anyone would interrupt her.

"Oh, Jodie! I wondered where you were."

Jodie looked up, seeing Tali standing in front of her. "Oh hello, Tali," said Jodie. She offered a smile, looking up at the quarian. "So... You and Shepard recently recovered a lot of geth data from those systems the ships were disappearing in, right?"

"Yes," said Tali as she knelt down beside Jodie. "This data could be big, Jodie. I think it would be enough for a Pilgrimage gift."

Jodie rose her eyebrows as she placed the assault rifle part down. "Really?" she asked. "So Shepard gave you the data, right?"

"Of course," said Tali, reaching into a portion of her suit and pulling out an OSD. "Shepard would not leave me like that. He... He's far too good for that."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that," Jodie said. She then shifted, looking over to where Wrex was lounging about. "He's been doing a lot of things for the crew, lately."

"He has," said Tali. "I'm surprised Wrex let him get that close."

"Well, he's just rough around the edges," said Jodie. "He'll probably never admit it, but he's a good guy. And now that Shepard's gotten his armor for him, I think we'll be seeing more of that good guy in him. Well, if he admits it, at any rate..."

* * *

_Jodie stepped out of the elevators, looking around the area for a brief moment of time. Everything seemed to be in order now that Shepard and the ground team had come back from whatever they were doing on that planet's surface. Garrus was working on the Mako, Ashley was cleaning the weapons, the requisitions officer stood there keeping stock..._

_And then she turned to Wrex, who was busy polishing some odd-looking armor. Said armor looked almost ancient, actually, as it was faded out and even chipped in a couple of places. It was also a brilliant shade of white, and it gave off a regal impression even in its slightly deteriorated state._

_Jodie approached the krogan, looking at the armor. Wrex did not seem to notice Jodie approach, and even if he had noticed her he paid no attention. "What... what is that?" Jodie asked as she came closer._

_Wrex glanced back at her with red eyes, but otherwise reacted with a rather small amount of emotion. "Hello, Jodie," he said. "Just polishing off some old armor."_

_Jodie then approached Wrex. "That doesn't look like just any armor," she observed. "It also wasn't here, last I checked."_

_"We just stole it back from someone else," said Wrex. "Had Shepard help me out with it and everything."_

_Jodie frowned, looking at the suit of armor intently. "It must be really important armor if that's the case," she said. "But it looks ancient..."_

_"Because it is," said Wrex. "This armor is old. Useless for fighting, but there is still value in a symbol of strength."_

_Jodie paused, and then found herself uncontrollably smirking. "Is that sentimental value I see there?" she asked._

_"No," Wrex said abruptly as he turned to look at Jodie for the first time in the conversation._

_Even as he said this, though, Jodie noticed the way Wrex's eyes seemed to shine. There was a kind of sheen to his eyes Jodie had never seen from the krogan before that point, and for the first time Jodie could sense that the bitter old krogan seemed rather happy about something._

_Jodie shrugged. "Fair enough," she said, her tone shifting in a way that caused Wrex to frown a little. "But it looks a bit to me like-"_

_"You're seeing things," Wrex interrupted, before turning back to the armor. "Now go away before you start drawing those damn pointy-headed things you humans are obsessed with. I'm busy."_

_Jodie stood there for a few seconds, looking at the old, decayed armor. She then shrugged, and walked away with a smile on her face. She took a few steps, doing her best not to look behind her to avoid the glare Jodie knew Wrex was likely directing at her._

_But then Aiden giggled. She paused, looking up at the entity as he gave a happy gurgle again._

_And then, Jodie glanced back, a smile coming to her lips._ Really? _she thought._ Well... I guess he  _is_ more of a softie than I thought...

_And with this, Jodie turned towards the elevator, pressing the call button to go back up to the mess hall._

* * *

Jodie smiled, and then sighed as she looked at the armor. "I think getting that armor was good for his soul," she said. "I can't imagine what it would've been like to have whatever past he has eating away at him like that."

"Why do you say that?" asked Tali.

"Well... I've sort of had experience with that," Jodie said as she turned her attention back to Tali. "We all deal with it in different ways. Wrex... well, you know his way."

"And Garrus' too, now," said Tali as she looked at the Mako.

Jodie's eyes widened. "Oh, that's right," she said. "He dealt with that doctor he was chasing down recently, didn't he?"

"He did," said Tali. Jodie saw the lights behind Tali's mask narrow considerably. "It was cruel, what we found when we finally cornered that bastard. He did things to people I wouldn't wish on my worst enemies..."

"Yeah, Garrus mentioned that to me," said Jodie. "He seemed oddly at peace with himself, though..."

* * *

_"So then you found him?"_

_Garrus nodded from where he sat at the Mako's controls. His talons hovered over a particular function, and Jodie watched as his wrist moved as if he was tapping out Morse Code. "Yeah." Garrus kept on working, but Jodie noticed that his tone of voice was a little deeper than normal. "And when I saw the son of a bitch, I had to do everything I could to keep myself from strangling him right there. I was..." He paused. "It came flooding back."_

_"The investigation?" Jodie asked as she leaned against the back seat of the Mako behind Garrus. "Of Dr. Saleon, right?"_

_"Yeah," said Garrus. He looked down. "I still remember the file. I still remember some of the bodies he left when I went to go investigate." He paused, exhaling deeply. "And when I cornered him, he tried to lie his way out. I don't think I've ever been more enraged in my life, Jodie..."_

_"Well, that can happen sometimes," she said. "And Shepard..."_

_"Shepard stepped back and let me have my way with him," Garrus said._

_Jodie frowned, leaning forward. "Wait, what?" she asked._

_Garrus shrugged. "Don't worry, I didn't do anything he would do to his victims," he said. "I made it quick. Simple shot to the head." He then paused, turning to look at Jodie. "It was painless. It was more merciful than he deserved, but that would make me just as bad as he was."_

_"Indeed it would," said Jodie as she crossed her arms. She frowned, looking at the turian intently as she spoke. "Do you really think it'll bring you peace?"_

_"Well, it finally gave me a chance to follow up on what I should've done back when I first did his case," Garrus replied. He grumbled. "The damn red tape I had to cut through at C-SEC stopped me from getting him then, I'm sure of it."_

_Jodie crossed her arms. "But... wait, red tape?" she asked. "What happened?"_

_"When he escaped, I wanted the Citadel Defense Force to shoot his ship down," he said. "But, they refused. They said he was too close to the station."_

_"And to civilians," Jodie pointed out._

_Garrus shook his head. "They wouldn't have hit the station if they were careful," he said._

_"You don't know that," Jodie replied as she shifted, her frown intensifying. "There could have been other civilian ships as well, you know. And if you're going to shoot down other civilian ships to get at one madman, is it really worth the cost?"_

_The turian paused, and then he looked down at the ground in dismay. He shook his head, and then turned back to the Mako's control panel. "It doesn't matter now," Garrus replied. "What matters is I finally brought that son of a bitch to justice. I'm good."_

_Jodie nodded. "Um... I'm glad to hear it. Really." She then sighed, glancing to the door. "I'm going to go upstairs. I think Kaidan could use the company."_

_"I'll be down here if you need me," said Garrus. "And now that I did that, I think I should be good for discussing anything you want."_

_"Good to know," Jodie said._

_She then stepped outside of the Mako, glancing back at Garrus as he did his calibrations. The turian did not look at her, and even as Jodie stood at the entrance of the tank she saw that there was a new determination in each of his keystrokes._

_She sighed, ignoring Aiden's disturbed whoosh. She then walked away from the Mako, making her way towards the elevator to the crew deck._

* * *

"Doesn't it concern you, though?" Tali asked. "I mean, that he was willing to threaten civilians?"

"Oh, believe me, it does," said Jodie. She shook her head. "But I'm not the one who's going to make him see that. That's Shepard's responsibility. And really, I don't even know how to begin approaching that.

"Fair enough," the quarian replied. She then sighed wistfully, looking up. "Still, I guess it is good that Shepard allowed him to end it on his own terms. It always reminds me of how Shepard is so willing to go out of his way for his crew. I guess... We all needed that in some way."

Jodie nodded, looking over at Tali as she noticed the way her head tilted towards the ceiling. "He's always looked out for you, huh?"

"Yes," said Tali. She then glanced down. "You already know how, though. Sometimes, he was the only friend I felt I had." She sighed, and Jodie immediately caught on to the way the sigh dragged on a little longer. "I think... well, I feel really happy and excited when I'm with him, you know?"

Jodie blinked, her hand bunching into a fist. Aiden gurgled in disappointment, but Jodie maintained her posture as she looked at the quarian. "Really?" Jodie asked.

"Yes," said Tali. "I... I don't know if he feels the same way, but... um... I think of him as more than a friend... If I'm being honest, I... Oh dear, it's hot in here..." Tali chuckled nervously. "Um... Why did...?"

"You need some advice?" asked Jodie.

Tali blinked. "Oh!" she said. "Oh, uh... no... no, I don't think... I can't tell him that." She then glanced to the side. "It wouldn't work out. I... If I step out of this suit, I could die. You know that, Jodie. It... it would make intimacy almost impossible with him. As much as I would like it, I have to think of him. And it wouldn't work with a human..."

Jodie leaned forward. "Don't say that," she said. "I mean, if he cares, he'll find a way to make it work out."

Tali frowned. "You really think so?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Jodie with a slight nod. "At least, if he does..." She shook her head, resisting the sudden urge to glare at Aiden. "Sometimes, you just have to go for things, you know? I think if you trust Shepard, and he trusts you..."

Tali nodded. "If... if you say so..." she said, her hands wringing together nervously. "I... I don't know if I'll ever pick up the courage to, though. It's just that-"

"Hey, there you two are."

Jodie and Tali both jolted, and then they looked behind Tali to see Ashley walking up behind them. "Oh!" said Tali. "Um... hello, Chief."

"Hey Tali," said Ashley. "All good in engineering?"

"Um... yeah," said Tali. "Everything's fine in there."

"Good." Ashley then turned her attention to the disassembled assault rifle in front of Jodie. "So I'm going to guess you're cleaning your rifle out."

"Yeah," said Jodie. "I thought I'd just get the hang of it, you know?" She shrugged, grabbing the first piece she needed to begin putting it back together. "I was just about to put it back together when Tali came around."

Ashley nodded. "Good," she said. "Because I was told to get you two. Shepard got a new mission, and he wants you to suit up as soon as possible."

"Oh!" Jodie blinked, looking at Ashley briefly before she then began reassembling her assault rifle. "Of course! Yeah, I'll be right with you."

Tali nodded, looking up at Ashley. "So what is the mission?" she asked.

"We're passing by one of humanity's colonies," said Ashley. "Terra Nova, that is. We noticed that there's an asteroid that's moving a little too fast for comfort. Shepard wants us to go down and investigate it."

"Oh," said Jodie. She got to work on assembling the assault rifle more quickly. "Well, I hope he can wait a few minutes." She said this as she put the barrel back in place, and she began to quickly put the rest of the rifle back together. "I'll get my armor on as soon as I've assembled my assault rifle. Sorry."

"I'm sure he'll understand," said Ashley. She then turned to Tali. "You should suit up, too. Joker said the asteroid was moving suspiciously quickly: Shepard thinks we might have a firefight on our hands."

Tali nodded, moving towards her locker. "Of course, Chief," she said. "I'm on it now." She then paused as she opened the locker. "Let's hope that this can be solved painlessly."

"Let's hope," said Ashley as she knelt down to her own locker and opened it.

* * *

" _Status: Sensors reveal three fusion torches propelling Asteroid X57. At its current rate of acceleration, the asteroid will collide with Terra Nova in approximately four hours. Analysis: torches must be disabled to cease the acceleration._ "

The Normandy's on-ship computer droned this out as Jodie looked on from the cockpit. They noticed that the asteroid was indeed racing a little too close to the planet. It was still quite a ways off from being visibly within Terra Nova's atmosphere, but Jodie could still see a trail of flames behind it.

"Well, this just got interesting," Joker said from the pilot's chair. "Looks like someone partied a little hard last night."

Shepard glared at Joker before looking outside the asteroid. "This is serious, Joker," he said. He then looked to Tali, Ashley, and Jodie as Jodie rubbed her shoulder in anticipation. "I'm expecting someone really twisted to have done this."

"I am too," said Ashley. "You don't just put fusion torches on an asteroid that's going to hurtle towards the planet for no reason."

Jodie crossed her arms. "So then who do you think would do something like this?" she asked.

"I don't think it's the geth," said Shepard. "This... If this is what I think it is, then-"

And then, a comm line opened, the sound of the connection interrupting Shepard.

" _Hello? Hello? I heard your transmission. Can you hear me?_ "

Jodie looked at Ashley and Tali upon hearing the female voice. She sounded hushed, her volume barely above a whisper.

Shepard leaned forward, looking directly at Joker's control panel. "I hear you loud and clear," he said. "What's going-"

" _Good,_ " said the voice, her whispers' tones raising slightly. " _Listen, they haven't found me yet, but I can't talk long. Please, shut down the fusion torches or we're all going to die! God, please..._ "

The transmission immediately cut out, with Shepard looking to the others. "Well, I think we've got our answer," said Shepard. "I think this  _is_ what I think it is." A frown took form on his face. "Joker, keep the Normandy close by. Everyone else, we're going to the Mako."

"Sure thing, Commander," said Joker. "Oh, and make sure nobody dies if it  _is_ those four-eyed creeps."

Jodie frowned. "Four eyed..." She then paused, looking at the others. "You don't think it's..."

"Batarians?" Tali finished. "It could very well be."

"We'll see when we touch down, but I get the feeling that's what we're dealing with here," said Shepard. He then walked briskly towards the stairs down to the mess hall. "Come on. Every minute counts."

And with this, Jodie nodded, frowning a little. Nevertheless, she followed Shepard and the others, and they quickly worked their way down to the Mako.

* * *

The Mako touched down rather gracelessly, but Jodie knew Shepard could not afford to wait for anything. Shepard drove on madly, the group passing by several outposts. Jodie could already see a few bodies from where she sat in the Mako, and the thought that there were bodies around this early in whatever conflict was found with the batarians unnerved her.

Aiden clicked uncertainly, and Jodie could only nod her head in agreement.

 _Yeah, I know..._  she thought.  _Be prepared to do something even if I don't tell you to do it._

Aiden gurgled, and then Jodie sighed in relief. She focused her attention just in time to hear the tail end of a transmission from the woman that she heard earlier. The transmission abruptly cut out, and it was then that Jodie caught sight of the first fusion torch from where Shepard was sitting in the driver's seat.

"Whoah..." said Jodie as they came closer. "Look at the size of that thing..."

Everyone did indeed look at how large the fusion torch was. It was a massive thruster, seemingly stabbed into the ground of the asteroid haphazardly. Jodie beheld it as they got closer, seeing how the giant trail of fire behind it was so much larger than she thought it would be from a distance. The sight took her breath away, and it nearly made her forget exactly why they were there in the first place.

But before they could cross the threshold, the Mako came to a stop. Jodie looked outside, seeing Shepard had turned towards a prefab that had a human body lying in front of it. She shuddered, checking her face to ensure her helmet was still there. When her hand came up against the glass viewport, however, she sighed in relief, and then took a deep breath.

When the Mako opened, all sound escaped the area around her, and then she found the sound of her own breathing was amplified several times over.

 _So_ this  _is what it's like to walk in a vacuum..._  she thought. She then stepped towards the entrance, looking to Tali as she exited the tank before her.  _Hm... It feels like I'm at the bottom of the Pacific all over again..._

Aiden clicked his agreement. Jodie replied to it with a smile. Jodie knew that the mouthpiece of the helmet covered her mouth, so she felt comfortable in showing Aiden that much.

She then stepped off, looking at Shepard as he came around the Mako and walked right up to the dead body. Jodie saw the dead body, and her smile instantly faded. She then walked forward, crowding around it with Ashley and Tali. The man was obviously long-dead, the hole in the back of his helmet attesting to that fact.

Jodie nodded, kneeling down and looking at him. "It looks like a clean wound," said Jodie.

"Probably surrendered," said Shepard. "Not that it would make a difference to batarian slavers."

Jodie nodded. "You fought slavers, didn't you?" she asked.

"Yes," said Shepard as he stood up. "They were ruthless sons of bitches. I can't begin to tell you how many atrocities I saw them commit."

Jodie sighed, looking down. "They were pretty bad, weren't they?" she asked.

"They are," said Shepard. He walked towards the prefab unit. "I've seen the kinds of shit those sons of bitches do to their slaves. It's horrible... shocking their bodies into submission, psychologically torturing them..." He shuddered. "There was one I saw personally who was so far gone he could not even speak. He just looked at me when I came up to him to help rescue him. He just stared back, afraid." He shook his head. "He wouldn't let me get close enough to sedate him. And when I tried to approach..." He fell silent. "He was too afraid."

Jodie nodded grimly. "I... I never knew..." she said.

"They don't like to talk about that stuff in public," said Ashley. "I can't blame them, really. Some of it... some of it is something most people should  _never_ have to hear about."

"I see..." she said, looking at the prefab unit. "Is there something in there?"

"There must be," said Tali.

"There would be in a case like this," said Shepard. He then gestured to Tali. "Ashley, Jodie, stay on guard. Tali and I are going to see what we can find in here."

With this, Shepard and Tali entered the prefab unit. As soon as they entered, Ashley turned around looking at the area by the Mako. However, Jodie remained looking at the prefab unit, and her feet fidgeted slightly as she watched Tali and Shepard enter.

Jodie heard a click in her ear, and before long she heard static. "You're not turning around?" Ashley asked her.

Jodie shook her head. "Is this a private channel?" she asked.

"Yeah, just put it up," said Ashley.

"Thanks," said Jodie. "And I don't really need to turn. Aiden will see them coming before either of us do."

"Ah, right," she said. She then chuckled. "Sorry, it's going to take a bit getting used to knowing you've got a ghost following you everywhere."

"That's something I never thought I'd hear in my life," Jodie replied. "Though... I guess it's good to hear that."

"It should be," said Ashley as she shifted her position. "You're not going to reign Aiden in if it gets really hairy, are you?"

"No," said Jodie. "Aiden can do things more... subtly, if you know what I'm saying. So if he needs to do something... he can do it."

"Good," said Ashley. "Good."

Jodie wanted to say more, but she was stopped by Shepard and Tali stepping out of the prefab unit. Jodie frowned upon seeing Shepard's steps, though: it was difficult to tell in the silence of the vacuum, but Jodie thought she could see that Shepard's steps seemed to trudge across the ground with quite a bit more force than she was used to seeing from the Commander. Jodie also noticed the way his brows were furrowed, almost as if he was ready to strangle something and wring its neck.

But all thoughts of this were overridden by her curiosity. "Anything?" Jodie asked as she looked at Tali.

"No," said Tali. "Just a log entry." She pointed at the body on the ground. "The poor man didn't even see it coming..."

"Come on," said Shepard brusquely as he walked past Jodie and stalked towards the Mako. "Let's make these batarians pay for what they did."

Shepard was already at the Mako by the time Jodie, Tali, and Ashley all moved towards the tank. And when he was, he pulled himself up roughly, and Jodie saw him take steps that could definitely be seen as stamping in fury.

* * *

The group had driven the Mako around outside afterwards, taking care of a few turrets around the thruster they had seen. The turrets had been a little annoying to deal with, but Jodie knew that they were but a preview of what they would get once they stepped inside to disable the first of the three thrusters. It had been a little disorienting dealing with these turrets while sitting in the passenger seat, but Jodie had weathered the storm well enough.

And so, there they stood at the entrance, Shepard with his pistol at the ready. He nodded to Ashley and Jodie, before turning back to Tali. He then looked at the door.

"I'm fairly certain these are batarians," said Shepard. "With that in mind, they'll likely have varren."

"Varren?" asked Jodie. "You mean those weird scaly dog things, right?"

"Yes," said Shepard. "They'll charge at us, so someone needs to make sure they don't get too close." He then looked at Tali. "You're on point for that. You've got a shotgun on hand."

"Got it, Shepard," said Tali. "If they get close, they're ferocious, right?"

"That they are," said Shepard. He then turned his attention to Jodie and Ashley. "You two will deal with the foot soldiers."

"Yes, sir," Jodie and Ashley chorused.

Shepard nodded. "All right, on three, we all pour in," he said. "Be ready: batarians are ruthless sons of bitches."

He then held his hand up, looking at the others. He then put one finger up, and Jodie breathed in, preparing herself to leap into action on Shepard's orders. As she did this, she watched as his second finger rose up.

As soon as Shepard indicated three, he slammed his hand on the door control, the door opening.

The group wasted no time, they immediately moved in formation, with Shepard and Tali taking point, while Jodie and Ashley stood slightly behind.

This brought them to a room with a lot of storage crates and perhaps some land vehicles as well. As Jodie looked around, she saw a bunch of ugly four-eyed aliens standing around one of the vehicles. She noticed another one of those four-eyed beings further back in the room, noticing that it was not as spacious as she would have thought from looking at it from the outside. She heard Aiden click in alarm as they entered, and Jodie found that she agreed with that assertion.

Before she could voice her thoughts, though, she heard a loud, raspy bark from up ahead. As she looked there, she saw that there were two scaly dog-like creatures that were fast approaching them.  _So_ those  _are varren_ , she thought. She raised her assault rifle up, looking at the batarians behind them.

Jodie's shields felt the brunt of the impact as the first mass accelerator rounds were fired. She quickly ducked behind a crate positioned close by, jumping in just in time to see Tali fire her shotgun at the first of the varren. It went down with a whimper, but the second varren was still headed in her direction. Jodie brought her assault rifle to bear behind cover, but before she could fire, Jodie watched as Tali took care of the varren for her. The quarian then quickly ducked behind cover, the two varren having been disposed.

But before Jodie could celebrate this, she heard another voice shout from deep inside the facility they were in.

"Release the varren!"

 _Shit, there are_ more _of those things?_  Jodie thought.

And sure enough, past the hail of mass accelerator fire, Jodie saw that there were four more of those varren. Jodie grit her teeth, popping out of cover and aiming her assault rifle at the first of them. She then opened fire at the leader of the pack, the shot striking true on the varren's forehead. It managed to move forward a few more steps before it then stumbled forward, flipping forward once before landing on its back and falling into a still position. Jodie immediately turned her aim to the next one and firing. That one simply fell on its front legs, sliding to a stop before it too stopped moving.

Jodie immediately moved to fire on the third one, but by then it was too late: even Jodie was shocked at how quickly it had crossed the room. She only had enough time to let out a quick yelp of surprise before she dived to the side, narrowly missing the varren's tackle by shoving herself to the side in her own cover. It was then that she realized that Ashley had switched cover, but Jodie only had time to take a note of it before she rolled back to her feet.

The varren recovered quickly, though, and before she knew it Jodie had to jump back, narrowly missing a swipe from the ferocious dog. She readied her assault rifle, firing quickly at the varren. However, her shot still went wide, and before she knew it the varren had jumped at her.

As soon as Jodie felt her back slam into the ground, she felt one of the varren's claws dig into her arm. She let out a loud cry of pain, but did not let the pain deter her: she immediately retaliated by hitting the varren across its face with the butt of her rifle. This did not get the varren off, but it gave her enough time to disorient the creature. For good measure, she whacked the varren in the head again, before aiming directly at where she assumed its heart was and opening fire. The varren let out a loud wimper, and then Jodie kicked it to the side as she rolled out from underneath the corpse of the varren.

She barely had enough time to see that Tali had already taken out the fourth varren before she heard rounds impact against her shields. Jodie turned, seeing a vehicle nearby. She then quickly ducked behind it right as her shields failed. Her arm stinged a little in protest, and at this she let out a moan of pain. She breathed in harshly for a couple seconds before looking at it to see that the varren's claws had cut right through her armor and left a gash about the size of one of her fingernails in her arm. She winced upon seeing this injury, before looking off to the side.

She immediately brought her assault rifle to bear upon seeing a batarian pop out from behind the vehicle directly opposite from Jodie's. She quickly fired off a volley, which was enough to keep the batarian behind cover but not enough to do any damage. It did give her time to quickly move over to the back of the vehicle, and as she turned she looked just in time to see that another batarian had the same idea. She quickly fired a volley of rounds at him, taking him by surprise. She did not release the trigger until the batarian's shields were down, and by the time the batarian was falling from three gunshot wounds to the torso, Jodie heard the beep from her assault rifle that it had overheated.

Jodie quickly switched cover, peering out at the vehicle opposite hers. She watched the batarian appear out of cover, but before she could say anything else, she watched as the batarian was taken down by a shot from Shepard's pistol. She then heard a loud explosion rock the end of the room, and all she could hear was the loud cry of a dying batarian. After that, Jodie heard dead silence around all of them.

She then came out of cover, looking around at all the batarians that were laying about. Off in the back, she saw that a fuel tank had exploded, a charred body laying right beside it. She glanced around the room, breathing in to steady herself as Aiden clicked in worry.

She nodded, and then the adrenalin wore off. As it did, she let out a loud cry of pain, gripping her arm.

"There, there," said Ashley. Jodie turned as Ashley approached, her omni-tool open. "Here, let's get some medigel on that."

Immediately, Jodie felt the soothing feeling of medigel being applied to her arm, and she sighed in relief. "Thanks," she said. "That varren did leave a bit of a mark..."

"It'll heal," said Ashley. "And hey, you can say you survived your first encounter with a varren pretty well."

"True," said Jodie as she looked over to Shepard and Tali. "I guess since the batarians here are dealt with, we'll be moving on or something?"

"Sounds like it," said Ashley. "Come on."

They then met up with Shepard and Tali as they moved towards the stairs. The group of them ran up the steps quickly, Jodie looking on. "So the batarians are the only ones in here, right?" Jodie asked, a concerned expression on her face as they moved up the steps.

"I don't know," said Shepard. "If there were any humans in here, let's hope he kept them alive..."

"Let's hope," said Ashley as they reached the top of the stairs. "We know there's one civilian who's still alive, but if we want it to remain that way we need to make sure we clean house out here."

"Of course," said Shepard. They then walked over to a doorway, walking in to see a large room with a bunch of control panels in it. "Looks like we've hit the control room. Tali?"

"Of course," Tali said, walking in. "Shutting it down should only take a few seconds..." She then opened her omni-tool, looking at various lines of code as she went in. "...especially since they didn't erect very strong firewalls."

"They did?" asked Jodie. "Huh... They must have expected resistance."

"Probably from whoever was on this asteroid first," said Tali. She nodded, her hand touching a few commands on her omni-tool before the room shook a little. After it shook, however, they noticed that there was something missing in the sounds around them. Upon firther listening, Jodie noticed that there was a low hum that was now missing from the vicinity, and she very quickly realized what it might have been.

"And that should do it." Tali closed her omni-tool.

Before Tali could say anything more, however, the terminal by the torch controls came alive. " _I'm reading that one of the torches is offline,_ " said a female voice quietly. " _Was that you? Can you hear me?_ "

Shepard immediately approached the terminal, looking at it with a hopeful look on his eyes. "I hear you loud and clear," said Shepard. "Who are you? What's going on?"

" _My name's Kate Bowman,_ " the woman replied. " _I'm an engineer. I was part of the team assigned to bring this asteroid to Terra Nova._ "

"What were they bringing it in for?" Jodie whispered to Ashley.

"Resources, probably," Ashley whispered back.

Jodie arched her eyebrows, and then she turned her attention back to the terminal as Kate Bowman continued. " _...cked yesterday by batarian extremists. I've been hiding since they arrived. I think they know the torch went out._ "

"Then we better move out," Shepard said. "You stay hidden. I'll take out the remaining two torches as quickly as I can."

" _Good,_ " said Kate. " _I'll try to talk to you when I see that the second torch is out. I don't know why they're here, but if this asteroid is allowed to get close to earth, millions of people will-_ " And then Jodie heard the sound of a door opening close by. " _I've got to go. Good_ _luck._ "

The link cut, leaving the group to stand there. Shepard nodded, and then looked towards the door. "Well, we've got our work cut out for us," he said, pointing at the door.

"You didn't ask her why they're doing this," Jodie mentioned.

"I don't think I need to," said Shepard as the group made their way to the door. "They're batarians. They're all the same low-life scum as these guys, and they all want us dead."

Jodie frowned. "I'm sure they're not all that bad," she said.

"That's because you've never met any," said Shepard. The group stepped through the door. "If you only knew what they were capable of, you'd think differently."

Jodie looked forward. "So it's... It's not just the slavers?" she asked. "I mean, I won't deny that what these slavers do is horrible, but... They can't all be like that, can they?"

"Their government funds the slavers," said Shepard pointedly as they began walking down some stairs. "And that government likes to blame humanity for their failings, no matter what they're shown to the contrary." He then looked at Jodie as they rounded their way down the staircase. "And those that don't agree? Killed, if they're not brainwashed first." He then turned away from her. "Does that sound like a species with some dissent in there?"

Jodie's frown only deepened. "Well, no, but it's no-"

"Then that's that," said Shepard, swiping his hand forward. "They're all like that, Jodie. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Are we clear?"

Jodie opened her mouth, but then Aiden clicked before she could actually say anything. It was only then that she recognized that Shepard's tone had been severe, as if it were nipping the conversation in the bud. Jodie looked down, letting out a sigh as she continued walking forward.

"Clear as day, sir," she said.

"Good," said Shepard. "Now let's go and..." He then trailed off as he stepped through the warehouse.

Jodie paused, looking at the commander in confusion as he pulled his pistol out. Ashley immediately drew out her weapons, and it was only as Tali drew hers that Jodie heard Aiden trill softly.

Her eyes widened, and then Jodie pulled her own pistol out. Shepard then gestured to the whole group, the four of them then heading towards the walls right by the entrance of the warehouse. Ashley and Jodie took a position on one wall, while Tali was quick to take a position behind a crate. Shepard then stepped forward, keeping his pistol armed. However, Jodie noticed that the pistol was aimed at the ground, almost as if Shepard was expecting to raise it quickly.

And then, Shepard passed the threshold of the walls. And immediately, Jodie saw his stance relax.

"Hey!" Shepard shouted.

Jodie winced upon hearing a single gunshot. However, as she watched, she saw Shepard's barriers flash blue for the slightest fraction of a second. It took her a few seconds to realize that all was still after that point, with a relieved expression on Shepard's face and a complete silence the only things that could reply to whatever had just happened.

She then stepped out of cover, putting her weapon away and seeing an older human man who had dropped his gun. "Oh God," he said as he approached Shepard, his aged eyes widening in shock. "I didn't mean to! I... are you hurt?"

"Well, you did trigger my minor allergy to kinetic barriers, but other than that I'm fine," Shepard said. Aiden could not suppress a very light giggle as Shepard shifted on his feet.

"Sorry," said the human, still looking down guiltily. "I didn't even realize you were human until... well, you know."

"I know you're scared, but I'm here to help," said Shepard. He then indicated himself. "Commander Shepard, with the Alliance."

The other man nodded. "Simon," he said. "Simon Atwell. I'm the chief engineer on this rock." He then nodded. "Listen, we don't have much time."

"We know," said Ashley. "We picked up some transmissions from Kate Bowman."

"Katie... So she's still alive." Simon sighed in relief. "Thank God. She's one of my best engineers. She signed on with her brother. Aaron." He sighed in relief. "If she's still alive, there might be hope for the others... Maybe they're alive."

"Maybe they are," said Shepard. "There are some outside the facilities that didn't make it, though."

"Oh... I see..." Simon looked down, shaking his head sadly. "I thought it would be different, but evidently..." He looked up at Shepard. "You have to stop them, then. You have to keep whatever it is they're planning from coming to pass."

"I already knew that when I first got the distress call from Kate," said Shepard. "I don't have time to run the numbers in my head, but I know that if this asteroid hits Terra Nova, the planet is dead, right?"

"No matter where it struck, it would cause ecological devastation," said Simon. "This asteroid is twice the size of the asteroid that drove the dinosaurs to extinction. The planet itself would die..." He shook his head, tears forming in his eyes. "I've got family down there, Commander. Children, grandchildren, they're all down there. There... there has to be something done about them."

"And we'll definitely do that," Shepard said. He then crossed his arms. "Do you have any idea who's behind this?"

"I heard a couple of them talking," he said. "They mentioned a Balak. It sounded like he's the one in charge." He then shrugged. "They didn't seem convinced it was a good idea, but they were scared of the guy, scared enough to do what he wanted."

Jodie then tilted her head to the side. Shepard looked back at her, a scowl forming on his face, but Jodie simply replied to it with a shrug. "I did say they weren't all that bad," she commented.

He shook his head. "The cowards are still doing it anyway," he said. "They don't have the courage to fight for what they really believe in. Can you really call those kinds of people different if they don't care to voice their opposition?" Before Jodie had a chance to reply, he then looked over at Simon. "So we have to disable all three torches, and there are likely batarians everywhere. Anything else?"

"One of the fusion torches is surrounded by live blast caps," said Simon. "We were set up to excavate when we arrived on Terra Nova. I rigged them with proximity detectors. It looks like it'll now be the way the batarians try to keep you away from the fusion torch."

"I don't think anyone could've seen that coming," said Shepard. "I'll make sure to avoid it."

"You'll have to go on by foot," he warned. "I'm going to assume you have a tank, right? It will set them off if you have it."

"Then I'll keep that in mind," he said. He then nodded, looking at the people behind him. "Well, we know what to do and what to avoid. We'll make our way there." He then gestured to Simon. "In the meantime, the batarians might come back. You should find somewhere to hide."

"Yeah, I think I'll do that," said Simon. "Good luck, Shepard."

And with this, he headed deeper into the warehouse, looking for a place to hide. As he did this, Ashley indicated at him. "Shouldn't we make sure the batarians can't get him?" she asked.

"We don't have much time," said Shepard. "And I don't think he would particularly like being cramped in a tank, especially when we have to leave it for long periods of time."

Ashley nodded. "Fair enough, commander," she said. "Come on. Let's go kick batarian ass."

"Gladly."

With this, Shepard walked towards the exit. His squad followed, though Jodie had slowed. She frowned for a second, shaking her head. Her thoughts were still with the batarians, and the way Shepard had talked about them.

She pondered to her days running from the CIA. While she knew that the CIA had done some very questionable things, she would never have thought of blaming the organization as a whole. After all, Ryan had only been following orders in the end, and even if he was the one who had the biggest hand in deceiving her, she knew that at the end of the day he had just been a piece of a larger puzzle. In hindsight, she knew that anyone else probably would have done the same: it just stung a little more.

And so to see Shepard hold the actions of a few against the entire rest of the species...

 _They can't all be that bad,_  she thought.  _Right, Aiden?_

Aiden clicked in the affirmative.

Jodie nodded.  _Thanks_ , she thought.  _I'm glad someone agrees with me._ _  
_

She then brought her hand up to her helmet, relieved that it was still there even though she had never removed it. She shrugged at that point, and then followed Ashley out of the warehouse and back into the vacuum of space.

* * *

The deactivation of the second fusion torch did not go too eventfully. Aside from navigating across the minefield, there was really nothing terribly different about shutting the second fusion torch down. At that point, it was just going through the motions for them, and it was motions that Shepard and his team did quickly and efficiently.

And as Tali finished up work on the second fusion torch, the group turned upon seeing the nearby terminal activate. " _Are you there?_ " Kate Bowman's voice asked. " _You've got to hurry, you've really pissed them off._ "

Shepard ran over to the terminal. "We're moving as quickly as we can," he said. "What's the situation?"

" _They're planting charges everywhere,_ " Kate replied. " _I think he's going to blow this whole facility!_ "

"Blow the whole thing?" Jodie looked at Ashley frantically. "That's... Oh no!"

"The main facility?" asked Shepard. "We'll get there as soon as we-"

" _Get away from there!_ "

The deep voice caused Jodie to jump up in alarm, and then she looked at the others, shock on her face. Before any of them could react, though, they heard more chatter from the other end of the line. " _No! Don't shoot, please!_ " Kate shouted, before her voice was overtaken by static. However, the link did not immediately cut out, for then the group heard the sound of footsteps approaching the terminal.

And then, there was silence. Occasionally, she could hear the feedback that signalled the link was still there, but that made the silence far more unnerving than it needed to be. Jodie stepped closer, looking at the terminal with a tense expression on her face as she watched it carefully. After a few seconds, she heard someone get thrown to the ground. There was some more rustling in the transmission, and then Jodie flinched as she heard a gun unfold on the other end of the line.

" _Who's shutting down the fusion torches?_ " asked a deep, gruff voice, similar in quality to the first gruff voice but rather different in some ways.

There was another silence, and this one seemed to stretch on forever. The static drone of the transmission itself seemed to increase in volume, even though Jodie knew that nobody had physically increased the volume of the call. Jodie found herself looking at Ashley with a horrified expression on her face. Ashley only returned the gaze with a grim nod, turning her attention back to the terminal.

Nothing was said by Kate Bowman. And in the silence, Jodie realized that her arms had tensed by her sides.

" _I won't ask again_."

And then another silence sounded, this one dragging on longer than the first silence. Jodie felt her heart pound against her ribcage, and her eyes widened as a cold sweat worked its way down her temple. She looked down, glancing at Tali and Ashley before breathing in unsteadily. She then turned, hearing Aiden trill slowly in anticipation.

And then, she heard a single gunshot. After a little more rustling on the other end, Jodie thought she heard a faint gasp.

" _Get her out of here._ "

And with that, the link cut. The silence was deafening, and Jodie could feel physical discomfort, as if something was pressing into her eardrums.

After a few seconds, Jodie's hand covered her mouth. "Oh no..." she whispered.

Shepard frowned, turning to her. "And there we go," he said, glancing pointedly at Jodie. "How batarians deal with things." He held this glance, his brow furrowed in such a way that it made Jodie feel weak at the knees from guilt. Jodie could not meet Shepard's gaze head-on, instead withering under it as she looked at the ground. She then held her hands behind her back, closing her eyes.

The silence held for a few more seconds before Shepard looked away. "Anyway," he said. "We have our work cut out for us. Let's get to it. I'm not one for letting these bastards get away with anything else!"

Shepard and Tali immediately made to exit the room, though Jodie stayed rooted in place. She began to ponder on what Shepard had said about this being characteristic of all batarians. The thoughts darted across her mind, and she found herself examining each one in detail. On the one hand, she knew that Kate was probably dead: that conversation did not leave much to the other. It had definitely been the batarians, who had executed just about everyone who had resisted. And from the way Shepard had talked about how they took slaves, she had a feeling they were bad.

But on the other hand, Jodie knew that any terrorist would have done the same thing. Common sense told her that other terrorists would have acted in much the same manner upon discovering that their plans were slowly unraveling.  _This Balak should be no different from any other terrorist_ , she tried to assure herself.  _And a terrorist is still a terrorist. He would've done the same if he were human..._

_Right?_

She then felt someone put an arm over her shoulders, and Jodie looked up to see Ashley. She offered a sympathetic nod, and a pat on the shoulder for good measure.

"For what it's worth, I'm sure he'd be angry if these were human terrorists," she said. "Not that the situation would be the same, but he'd still be as angry about it as he is now."

Jodie nodded. "I hope you're right," she said. She then looked over at Ashley as they both began to exit the room. As they did, they saw that Shepard and Tali were already making their way down the stairs. Jodie paused, looking off to the side and stopping where she was.

Ashley then turned to Jodie, and then the gunnery chief looked at her in concern. "You're going to do something about those charges, right?" Ashley whispered.

Jodie blinked, and then looked at Ashley. "You think he'll try to hold the people he has hostage with them?" she asked.

"Yes," said Ashley. "Shepard will probably prioritize the hostages, but just in case Balak sets them to blow anyway..."

Jodie paused. She then glanced up at Aiden as he let out a trill, followed by a series of rapid clicks. Jodie nodded, looking over at Ashley as she felt most of her worry dissipate.

"He can do that," said Jodie. "Only thing is, he'll have to find the charges first."

"Aiden can't just turn them all off at the same time?" Ashley asked.

Jodie shook her head as she made her way to the staircase. "Aiden can do anything, but he's not omnipresent," she said. "He's usually in a very specific place. He'd need to find the charges."

"Then if I can, I'll try to stall for time," said Ashley.

Jodie nodded. "If it comes down to that, I'd appreciate that," she said, giving a small smile that she knew Ashley wouldn't see past the helmet. Nevertheless, Ashley replied with a light nod.

They then quickly moved down the stairs, joining Shepard and Tali at the foot of the stairs as they then made a dash for the entrance of the warehouse.

* * *

They made sure to move quickly when it came to disabling the third thruster. The drive over there felt a lot quicker, the firefight seemed to move much more quickly, even disabling the fusion torch itself ended a lot sooner than it had before. Kate Bowman had not spoken up again since they had taken down the second fusion torch, and as the third fusion torch powered down in silence, the group was left to realize that the only place left to check had been the main facility itself.

Shepard had given the order with no amount of certainty, which made Jodie's heart race as they quickly moved down the stairs. They passed the threshold into the bottom of the warehouse, and they quickly turned around towards-

"Hold it right there! This doesn't have to end in bloodshed!"

Shepard paused, growling as he turned his attention to the end of the hall. Jodie saw a group of three batarians standing there, two of them keeping their weapons trained on the group and the one in front just standing there with his hands splayed out in front of him. Behind him were positioned two varren, though neither of them looked ready to pounce into action.

Shepard stepped forward. "It doesn't have to end in bloodshed?" he asked. "You're on course to destroy the ecosystem of a planet and kill millions of colonists, and yet you want to-"

"Shepard, wait!" said Jodie as she stepped forward. "They haven't shot at us yet!"

Shepard glared at Jodie. "This is not something  _you_ would understand," he said. "I don't negotiate with terrorists, and I don't negotiate with dirty sl-!"

"You heard what Simon said about them!" Jodie replied. She stood her ground, looking up at Shepard. "He said they were scared of him! Do you really think he'd come to you and tell you it doesn't have to end in bloodshed if he didn't want it to end like that?"

Shepard's frown remained as he looked back at the batarians down the hall from them. Shepard's glare was hard, hateful almost, as he studied each of the batarians there. He then looked at Jodie, who remained standing there with her arms crossed in front of her. He then glanced to Ashley and Tali, and it was then that Jodie noticed just how concerned Ashley and Tali looked. Out of the corner of her eye, she then saw Shepard clench his fists.

Finally, he exhaled, and turned to the batarians. "Put your weapons down," he said. "I won't talk unless you do!"

The lead batarian at the other end of the hall nodded. "Do as he says, boys," he said. "We don't want to piss him off..."

The batarians around him grumbled, but after a few seconds, they gently laid their weapons on the ground, remaining on their knees. Shepard frowned, looking at them for a few seconds longer. He then huffed, and turned back to his ground team.

"Put your weapons away," he ordered. "I just hope I don't regret this."

Jodie released a breath she hadn't realized she'd held for a few seconds, and then she advanced towards the batarians along with Shepard and the others. As they walked, Ashley caught up with Jodie. The gunnery chief gave Jodie a rather shocked look, her eyes wide open. She shook her head, gesturing at Shepard with a jerky hand motion.

Jodie simply shrugged. A second later, Shepard was standing in front of the batarian.

"At least your subordinates aren't afraid of you," said the batarian. "I hate that I can't say the same for myself."

"Says the coward who's still going with it anyway," Shepard muttered darkly.

"Look, I'm just doing my job here," the other batarian said. "Hijacking this rock wasn't my idea. I signed on to make a profit. A simple slave grab. Nothing more."

"It's always just a simple slave grab to you," said Shepard as he took a step towards the batarian. "And before you know it, millions of people are going to die."

"Don't you think I know that?" the batarian snapped. "I'm just following orders here. If it were up to me, we'd have already left."

"Then why  _don't_ you leave?" asked Shepard, his voice laced with venom. "Or are you still hoping to grab some slaves out of this whole mess?"

"At this point, I don't think slaves are worth it right now," said the batarian. "But Balak would skin me alive and sell my hide out of spite." He then shook his head, looking down at the ground as his voice softened considerably. "Crazy bastard. This whole mission's gone to hell and I'm gonna pay for it."

"Then why are you listening to him?" Jodie asked.

The batarian shrugged. "Good question," he said. "I had a bad feeling about this from the moment we landed. Now Balak wants you dead. And what Balak wants, Balak gets. I can't change that."

Before Jodie could say anything, Shepard chuckled darkly. "Spoken like a true  _coward_ ," said Shepard. "But no matter. If you get me out of here, I'll take care of Balak for you. Or, you can take your chances with me. Your choice."

"Huh..." The batarian looked down, before turning his attention back to Shepard. "Interesting proposal. It certainly has benefits over the current situation." He then looked over to his subordinate directly to his right.

"Shut it down. This is Balak's problem now."

With this, the batarian in question bent down to pick up his rifle. However, he immediately holstered it, catching Shepard by surprise as his own hand rested on his pistol. The batarian on the opposite of their leader did much the same thing, and then the two batarians behind him moved to exit. The two varren followed those two batarians out, and they exited the compound quietly, yet with a certain sense of urgency.

The lead batarian shrugged before looking at Shepard. "I hope you're as quick with your gun as you are with your promises," he said. "For both our sakes."

"Oh, I think Balak will find he picked the  _wrong_ human to fuck with," Shepard said as he uncrossed his arms. "He'll be brought to justice before the day ends." He then frowned. "And if I ever see you again, you'll be brought to justice too. We understand each other?"

"Perfectly," he replied. He then stepped forward, producing a key card from one of the pockets of his armor. "Balak's holed up in the main facility. You'll need this to get in." He then held the card in front of him, holding it in such a way that Shepard could easily grab it from him.

Shepard did grab the card, looking at it in confusion for a second before storing it in his own armor. "He'll be easy to take down," said Shepard.

"I wouldn't say that right now," the batarian replied. "He's a mean bastard. Don't underestimate him."

Shepard shook his head. " _I'm_ the one he should not underestimate," he said. "I don't underestimate my opponents."

The batarian then shook his head. "I only hope you're right," he said. He then looked behind him to see his fellow batarians already at the airlock. "Let's hope we never see each other again."

And with this, the batarian leader turned around, joining his comerades at the airlock. They then vanished from sight a few seconds later, fixing their helmets on to go. The group remained there for a few seconds, Shepard very clearly waiting for the other shoe to drop. But they were greeted with complete silence, not even accompanied by the lightest shuffle of a shoe.

They were alone in that warehouse.

Jodie nodded, a small smile coming to her face. "Good, they took their opportunity," she said, wiping her forehead. "That makes me glad."

"They'll go back to their old slaving ways before we know it," said Shepard bitterly. "This has changed nothing." He then turned to Jodie. "Did nobody ever tell you not to speak out against your superior officer?"

Jodie looked up at Shepard, frowning. "If I hadn't spoken up, we would've been in a firefight situation," said Jodie. "We're in a hurry here. The last thing we want is to get caught up in a firefight situation."

"Still, you spoke up against your superior officer at a time when that wasn't warranted." Shepard shook his head. "As soon as we're done here, I'm shelving you for the next few ground missions. I can't have you speaking out like that on the battlefield."

Jodie's frown intensified, but before she could say anything she caught sight of Shepard's glare. She noticed a particular glint in his eyes as he glared at her, and the menacing way this glint played upon his eyes caused Jodie's words to die on her tongue. It also sent a chill racing up her spine, and before she knew it, her frown had completely disappeared.

Jodie could only look at the ground, her eyes downcast as her shoulders drooped. "Yes, sir," she said, her voice meek and quiet.

"Good," said Shepard. He then turned his attention back towards the entrance of the warehouse. "Now come on. We have to stop this asteroid from crashing into the colony."

With this, he turned towards the exit. Tali followed him, and a few seconds after, Jodie began trailing behind. She shook her head, looking over at Ashley as the gunnery chief kept pace with her. Jodie simply shook her head, not bothering to read Ashley's expression for any clues before she then picked up the pace and settled into formation behind Tali.

And all the while, Aiden gurgled worriedly, the sound never ceasing for a second as Jodie followed the Commander outside.

* * *

It did not take very long to get to the main facility, and Shepard was surprised to find out that the batarian lieutenant's key did in fact work. It gave Jodie a little vindication, though it was comparitively not as much as it should have been. They did have to fight their way through at least part of the facility, though, and as Aiden had proceeded he looked for any charges he could find. Of course, Aiden had already found a few charges by the time they entered the central chamber of the main facility, and so Aiden had been able to disarm them even as the group moved around.

They had arrived at a large chamber with multiple levels. The batarians in this chamber had not really been any more difficult to deal with than the others, and by then Jodie had gotten used to their tactics. The group worked like a well-oiled machine, though Jodie could not ward off the mounting dread she felt at the fact they had not seen this Balak everyone talked about. Nevertheless, she kept her concentration on the firefight, and kept on firing at the batarians until there were none left in the room.

And after a particularly loud shotgun shot from Tali, Jodie knew that the firefight was over, at least in that form. She thus walked over to reconvene with Shepard. Ashley and Tali were already close by, so Jodie just sighed in relief.

"Well, we've cleared out a lot of batarians, but there's no sign of this Balak," said Tali.

"He should be holed up here..." said Ashley. "Do you think that batarian was lying to us?"

"I doubt it," said Jodie. "You heard how he spoke. He wouldn't risk his own hide unless he-"

"You humans."

The statement rang out from behind Shepard with such venom that it brought the conversation to a grinding halt. Shepard and the others turned around to see a batarian standing at the top of a flight of stairs. His armor was a faded crimson, but that only heightened the menacing nature that this new batarian gave off. On the sides of his head were what appeared to be some kind of tribal painting, and even without asking Jodie could tell that this was Balak. To his side, another batarian trooper stood, and the low growl of a varren drew Jodie's attention to the scaled beast beside the large batarian.

"You're almost more trouble than you're worth."

Balak let the silence hang in the air for a second as the crew's gaze turned to him. Jodie noticed that Balak's glare was hard to the extent that she could feel her skin prickle at the point where she imagined Balak looked at her. She shuddered, glancing around to where she hoped Aiden would be.

 _Oh no, Aiden..._ she thought, her heart beating a little faster..  _Quick! Find the remaining charges and get them offline! Now!_

Aiden clicked a few times, to which Jodie could only nod briefly.

Shepard only took a single step forward, his brow furrowing in anger. "I would say so," said Shepard. "Let the hostages go now, and  _maybe_ I won't drag you to the Council with a few scars on your face."

"I don't answer to the Council!" Balak retorted, taking a step forward as his hand sliced the air. "Or to you."

"Sure you don't," said Shepard. "Why go this far? Why destroy an entire planet?" He then leaned forward, meeting Balak's fury head-on. "What makes you think you can make this call?"

"What, this?" Balak asked. "This is nothing! Humans have done far worse to the batarians!" The batarian then began to pace around at the top of the stairs. "We've been forced into exile. Forced to survive on what we can scrounge up. It's been like that for decades."

"And why take it out on these people here?" Shepard asked. "They've done nothing to you!"

As soon as Shepard finished this, Aiden clicked once, Jodie sighing in relief.  _How many charges are there, Aiden?_

Aiden clicked four more times, each click coming rather rapidly. Jodie felt sweat trickle down her brow, and she looked to Ashley, her eyes wide in fear.  _Then you better get to it, Aiden. Hurry!_

"Didn't do anything?" asked Balak as he abruptly stopped pacing. "Aside from colonizing a world that could have been ours? Aside from using resources that should have been-?"

"If you're willing to do  _this_ , then you frankly don't  _deserve_ these resources you're talking about!" Shepard yelled, immediately silencing Balak. "We never dropped asteroids on your colonies, we never drove all life on your colonies to extinction! You brought that treatment on yourself, and you're onlygoing to keep doing that with actions like what you're doing right now!"

"How  _dare_ you!" shouted Balak, circling to face Shepard with an enraged look on his face. "You don't get to trivialize the struggle of the batarian people! A struggle you have caused through your own strength!" He then shook his head, stepping back. "You and your kind are the reason we are in this struggle! The Council knew we were weak, but they did nothing, and they did everything for you!"

"That still doesn't make you right," Shepard replied. "Why kill innocents?"

"Because sometimes, you need to get someone's attention before they'll listen," Balak stated.

"Ah, yes, and I'm sure they'll be  _perfectly_ willing to put you on speed dial after they find out you destroyed their planet and killed millions of colonists!" said Shepard, his sarcastic tone almost completely covered by his mounting fury. "Brilliant plan there, Patton."

"Save your pathetic attempts at 'humor'," said Balak, crossing his arms as his frown intensified. "They're not witty or clever!"

Aiden clicked again. Instead of relieving Jodie, though, she only felt her heart rate spike, and she found herself looking back at Shepard as he growled.

"Sure, attention," said Shepard. "So that was Elysium, right?" He then shook his head, looking up at Balak. "And when we responded, you ran away like the filthy cowards you are. You really think attempting the same thing twice will work out well for you this time?"

"You don't understand," said Balak. "And I get the feeling you don't  _want_ to understand!" The batarian waved his hand dismissively. "I'm done wasting my breath."

He then stopped, opening his omni-tool. "I'm leaving this asteroid," he said. "If you try to stop me, I  _will_ detonate those charges."

Jodie felt her hair stand on end right as Aiden clicked a third time.  _No!_  she thought.  _Aiden... Aiden, move it!_

Shepard frowned. "And there you go, turning away when we respond," he said. "You really  _are_ a coward, aren't you?"

"I am  _not_ a coward!" Balak replied. "I'll bide my time,  _human_. And in time, I will strike again, and you won't be there to stop me."

"I'd like to see you try that!" said Shepard.

Jodie tensed, realizing that Aiden had not clicked a fourth time. She glanced over to Ashley, subtly tilting her head forward. Ashley noticed Jodie's gesture, and she gave a very imperceptible nod to Jodie.

Ashley then turned to Balak. "We have a ship outside, you know," she said. "What's to say that ship won't shoot you down when it sees you try to escape?"

Shepard turned back to Ashley, looking at her oddly before shaking his head and looking back at Balak. "She's got a point there," he said. "How  _do_ you plan on escaping when I alert my ship to pursue you and take you down?"

"You don't know where I'm taking off from," said Balak. "And even if you can chase me down, do you  _really_ want to risk it?" He then leaned forward, snarling. "I may just set them off right before I leave, too, and what would you do then?"

Aiden clicked a fourth time, and Jodie felt her heart beat.  _Okay, Aiden, move quickly! You've only got a few seconds before Balak makes his move!_

"Whatever it took," said Shepard. He then crossed his arms. "You really think you'll walk out of here a free man? I'll stop you at any cost."

Balak then leaned forward. "So that's what it is, then?" he asked.

Shepard leaned forward, his hand coming to his hip and gripping something. "Yes," he said with conviction.

Jodie froze in place, suddenly taking in a ragged breath or two.  _No, no, Shepard, don't!_  she thought.  _No, you might kill all those people!_

"Yes, I plan on chasing you out of here," said Shepard. "People like you are the  _scum_ of this galaxy. You don't deserve to  _live_ , and you especially don't deserve to be free." He then frowned, clenching his fist to the point that Jodie thought he was going to cut his armor open. "So go ahead. Detonate the charges. Give me an excuse to slice you in half right now."

Jodie's hair stood on end. "Shepard, what are you doing?" she asked. "Don't-"

"So that's how it is," said Balak as he chuckled darkly. He then opened a command on his omni-tool. "This blood will be on  _your_ hands, Shepard. Remember that when you chase me down."

And with this, Balak stabbed at the holographic projection on his omni-tool. Jodie took a sharp intake of breath at that moment, her mind screaming at her not to squeeze her eyes shut in anticipation. Nevertheless, her hands balled into fists, and she found herself curling her toes. She then looked at Ashley, her neck tensing as her eyes widened.

Jodie was greeted with complete silence. A few seconds passed in this quiet, Jodie quite unsettled by it. She then glanced over at Ashley, her eyes wide as her posture began to relax greatly. And as the silence wore on, she noticed other sensations. No heat. No sudden bursts of light. No shaking of the ground. It was quiet, and quite unnaturally so as well.

It was only broken by a slight shift from Balak's foot. "What...?" The batarian looked around, his expression losing all of the fury it had barely a few seconds ago. "What...?" He then pressed the omni-tool a few more times. "No... No! No, this isn't happening!"

And it was then that Aiden began trilling happily. Jodie sighed in relief, her gaze turning downwards.

 _Oh, thank God_ , she thought.  _I thought you wouldn't be able to get to it..._

Aiden chirped merrily, and at that thought, Jodie could only smile. She nodded to Ashley, feeling the relief wash over her. The gunnery chief gave Jodie a small nod, and Jodie thought she saw Ashley give the smallest of smiles as she crossed her arms in front of her.

"Heh." Shepard stepped forward, a gleeful smirk on his face. "You're so cowardly you couldn't even be bothered to check if your bombs worked first, hm?"

Jodie turned to Balak as his initial confusion gave way to rage. "Th-they were working fine!" said Balak. He then turned to the batarian next to him. "It was that damn traitor Charn, I'm sure of it!" He then shoved the batarian next to him, drawing his pistol. "And you! Why didn't you-?"

"Well, I guess your escape plan just got shot to hell," said Shepard. He then withdrew an object from his utility belt, Jodie frowning at the object as he held it in front of him. "You're too pathetic to kill now. You're also too dangerous to let run away, though..."

He then took a stance, Jodie flinching as a beam of light shot out from the object. It took the form of a blade, and Jodie leaned back in shock as she remembered the last time she saw the holographic-looking blade.

"Perhaps now would be a good demonstration of why you don't fuck with me, Balak. Let me tell you why your people might know me as the Demon of Elysium."

With this, Shepard leaped forward, quickly clearing a few steps on the staircase before rushing straight at the area Balak was.

He let out an angered cry as the varren immediately leaped into action. Before the varren could react, however, Shepard's sword arm came up, and he ducked underneath the varren. In one motion, Shepard shoved the varren so the creature tumbled down the stairs behind him, the varren letting out several whimpers of pain as it fell down the stairs. Still Shepard rushed up the steps, at a pace that the batarians above him yelled at.

The batarian directly next to Balak fired at the commander, the commander's shields taking the brunt of the damage. Still, Shepard's rush up the stairwell was not slowed in the slightest. And as Shepard came to the top of the stairs, he let out a deranged scream, bringing his blade of energy down on that batarian. The blade made contact right on the batarian's shoulder, and then the blade cut through that shoulder. The batarian let out a scream of pain as Shepard dug the blade deeper, the scream cut off by a loud gurgling before Shepard pulled the blade out, the large cut through the top of the batarian's torso leaving little to the imagination.

Shepard frowned, and Jodie watched as the holographic blade died and detached from the hilt. A second later, Jodie blinked, watching as another lit hologram blade sprang up from the object in Shepard's hand. The commander turned to Balak, a sneer affixed in his expression.

Balak let out a loud cry of shock as Shepard turned to him. It only took a few seconds for him to bolt in the other direction, looking up as he stumbled, his motions noticeably frantic. "Cover me, all of you!" he shouted. "Co-"

But Shepard already lunged towards Balak, and the batarian's orders were cut off with a cry as Shepard stabbed the blade into Balak's foot. Shepard was already on top of Balak by the time Balak had hit the ground, and the two of them fell hard on it.

Jodie then felt some mass accelerator fire ping against her shields, and she turned behind her to see that there were other batarians situated on the far side of the field. Without wasting a second, Jodie turned, firing her assault rifle at them. She managed to take one down before her shields failed her, and then she leapt into cover. As she did this, she noticed that there were a group of four batarians up on Shepard's level that were rushing towards where she saw Shepard tackle Balak. She fired at them, keeping her rifle trained on them as her shields came back on-line.

But before she could take one down, Jodie saw Shepard rush in, his blade at the ready. Shepard rushed in, stabbing the foremost batarian in the torso with blinding speed. He quickly pulled the blade out, the batarian falling to the ground. Using the momentum there, Shepard turned around, going to smash the next batarian across the head with the hilt of his blade. Instead of meeting bone, however, the object met the opposing batarian's assault rifle, which redirected the direction of Shepard's blow.

However, before this second batarian could process much else, Shepard's leg came up, and it immediately caught the batarian in the chest. This second one was thus sent to the ground, Shepard already gunning for the third batarian. This batarian could not even get his weapon up in time before Shepard slashed across his neck, the batarian's head seeming to jump for a second before it fell to the ground. The fourth batarian panicked, spraying assault rifle fire.

Shepard's shields went down immediately, and Jodie saw blood burst from one of Shepard's arms, but the commander was not deterred. He simply rushed forward, stabbing at the batarian's torso. The batarian was already shocked enough, but Shepard drew upward. Jodie thought she could see the blade detach from its hilt there, whereupon Jodie instantly saw another blade enter that batarian. Shepard pulled this blade out, shoving this fourth batarian away before he promptly turned, slashing the second batarian's arm off. The only batarian left alive screamed in pain, but before he could do much else Shepard had stepped on his shoulder, setting him on the ground.

Jodie could not see the batarian from where she was, but nevertheless she cringed when he stabbed forward.

And it was only then that she realized that the area had fallen silent. She gasped, seeing Ashley and Tali standing up from out of cover. Jodie blinked, and then looked up at where Shepard was. She herself stood up, making her way up the stairs quickly.

Upon arriving at the top of the stairs, she saw Balak laying there unconscious. The wound in his foot had not yet been patched up, but Shepard did not seem to care about that as he approached. When he did approach, however, he looked down at the batarian, crossing his arms and giving a smirk.

"Well, turns out he's just as pathetic as the rest of them," he said. He then looked to his ground team. "I have a container I can hold him in. We can turn him in to the Alliance ourselves."

Ashley nodded. "Jodie and I can take him back to the Normandy, sir," she said. "Do you want to stay here and assess the situation?"

"Yes," said Shepard with a nod. "I have to talk to Simon before I leave." He then looked at Balak's foot. "Go ahead and heal that. He can't be taken in if that gets infected."

Ashley nodded, kneeling by Balak's side. Jodie immediately knelt by Balak, opening her omni-tool and applying medigel to Balak's foot. As soon as she did this, she then looked up, holding her hand up just in time to catch some cuffs Shepard threw at her. Jodie nodded, turning Balak over and cuffing the batarian.

As soon as this was done, Ashley pulled Balak to his feet, Jodie supporting Balak's other side. "We'll see you on the ship, Commander," Ashley said.

And with this, the two women turned, marching towards the exit of the main facility rather briskly. As soon as Ashley and Jodie were out of the commander's earshot, Jodie let out a sigh of relief.

"That was close," said Jodie. "Aiden nearly didn't get all of them in time."

"Well, whatever the case, I'm glad he stepped in," said Ashley. She then looked around her, before shaking her head. "You've got something special there, Jodie. I'm glad you're on our side."

Jodie smiled at Ashley as they moved along. "I'm glad we were able to save the civilians," she said. "That wouldn't have ended well..." She frowned, looking at Ashley. "But that sword Shepard had..."

"I don't know myself," said Ashley. "He explained it to me once, actually. You probably saw it when he was trying to go for Tali. Apparently, it's of a similar construction to some experimental omni-tool add-ons for close-quarters combat."

"I see..." said Jodie. "And he doesn't use it that often..."

"He seems to use it only when you piss him off enough," Ashley replied. "This is the second time I've seen that. And whenever he talks about it..."

"Interesting," said Jodie. "You ever wonder why the Alliance lets him keep that with him?"

"I don't know, but it's not my place to ask," said Ashley. "Come on. Let's make sure he's secure on the Normandy before he wakes up."

* * *

A few days had passed with no incident. The hostages were thankful to be alive, and much to Jodie's relief it turned out that Kate Bowman had in fact survived to tell the tale. Her older brother, however, had not. The other hostages got out with only a few minor injuries, and Simon had been incredibly grateful for the help. Jodie felt a pang of guilt that they could not save Aaron Bowman, but Kate was still thankful to be alive nonetheless. At least in that, Jodie could take some comfort.

They had left shortly after Shepard ensured the hostages were all right, and as soon as Shepard boarded the ship Balak was placed in a cage-like container in the brig. Garrus had of course spoken up out of concern for the Mako, but Shepard had assured him that everything was fine. Shepard wanted to deliver Balak personally to the Alliance, and to this effect, they were making a pit stop to the Citadel to turn Balak in to Alliance authorities there.

So of course, when the time came, Jodie got to sit on the sidelines to watch as Balak was handed off to Alliance officials out on the crew deck. She leaned against the lockers, Wrex looking on close by. She spotted Garrus over at the sleeper pods, and for once she caught sight of Ashley on the same side of the ship as Garrus. All their eyes remained on the center of the room, where the two Alliance officials and the three marines stood in front of Shepard and Balak.

Shepard remained in his civvies, but she got to get a closer look at some of the Alliance officials who had showed up in their dress blues. Jodie watched as Shepard dragged Balak there, the batarian stripped of his armor and wearing some rather simple clothes that looked a little baggy on him. Nevertheless, he remained on his knees, glancing down at the ground in defeat. Jodie could see Shepard and the Alliance officials talking, but she could not make out what they said. All she could see was the expression of smug self-satisfaction on Shepard's face. That expression remained constant, and while he toned it down in front of the Alliance officials Jodie could see it break through every once in a while.

Jodie nodded as she watched Balak get pulled to his knees by the Alliance officials. Balak paused, looking at the two Alliance officials as the three marines came and secured him in place. As he did this, Balak was directed to the elevator.

And then, Balak turned to look directly at Jodie. Jodie reeled back, but not because Balak had a sneer on his face. Rather, his expression looked horrified, far more horrified than any expression Jodie would have thought a terrorist capable of. His mouth hung slightly ajar, his eyes were wide with fear... but above all, the way Balak's top eyes seemed to shift as he looked at her...

But as soon as it had happened, the moment had gone, and Balak was pulled into the staircase to the CIC. And as the door closed behind the Alliance officials, Shepard nodded, turning to everyone on the crew deck.

"And that takes care of that," said Shepard. "We'll be on the Citadel for two days. All of you are welcome to step off the ship if you wish."

Jodie smiled, grateful for the opportunity. She heard Wrex grumble off to the side, but paid it no mind. She then pushed off the locker, opening up her omni-tool to find she had a new message.

She quickly opened the new message, smiling when she saw it was from Kalo'Veera.

" _Jodie,_

_I see. I believe I should be able to make it there. Perhaps you can help me with my ship purchase? I'll see you at that C-SEC office you mentioned._

_Your friend,_

_Kalo_ ".

Jodie nodded, looking up at Aiden.  _Well, let's get to it_ , she thought.  _I don't want to keep him waiting._ _  
_

And with this, Jodie moved towards the stairs, with Aiden remaining silent as she did so.


	15. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay then, ladies and gentlemen! It's Herr again, and... well, before I start, I thought I'd just point out that this is the chapter in which there are major revelations made about Shepard. I know it'll come right out of left field for those of you who haven't read Parallel Realities/From Another World, so if you've got any questions, don't be afraid to comment. I'll comment right back, and I promise I won't bite too hard.
> 
> Anyway, here's the chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter Fourteen

As soon as Jodie entered the C-SEC office, she noticed that Sura was at her same desk as always. However, as she walked up, she saw the red and gold swirls, and found herself smiling at the quarian that bore that cloth. Neither one noticed her as she approached, but already Jodie had a lightness in her step as she approached the desk. And as she did, she caught the tail end of their conversation.

"...I guess I can't fault you for that," Sura said. "But trust me, I can't let that happen."

"No, please, that would be too much trouble," Kalo replied, his hand drawing circles in the air. "And I doubt your officers at C-SEC would like that. I would not want to trouble you for the sake of a stranger."

"Oh, believe me, I doubt they'd care in my case," said Sura. "What he's doing is technically illegal. If that's the case, I can do whatever I damn well please. Besides, you're a friend of a friend."

And it was then that Sura turned her head. "And speaking of said friend..." She then leaned back, looking directly at Jodie. "How's the accidental racist doing today?"

Jodie's good mood was immediately deflated somewhat. Her eyes immediately narrowed, her shoulders hunching as Aiden clicked once for emphasis.

Kalo simply turned, looking at Jodie before turning to Sura. The way his back was hunched showed clear confusion as he turned back to Jodie. "Accidental racist?" he asked.

Jodie shook her head. "Don't ask," said Jodie. She then turned to Sura. "I see you've been doing well."

"I have," said Sura, looking over at Jodie. "That Commander you've got sounds like a real titan. I've heard all kinds of rumors about his exploits at work." She scoffed. "I don't stick around. We haven't got time for that kind of coffee talk."

"Maybe not, but they're not wrong," Jodie replied as leaned at the desk. "He's not a bad commander." She then turned to Kalo. "He can probably tell you all about it."

"Indeed," said Kalo as he smiled at Jodie. "You seem like you are doing quite well, Jodie."

"I am, thank you," she said, smiling at Kalo. "A lot has happened, but... you know most of it."

"I do indeed," said Kalo, the two lights behind his mask shining a little brighter. "But nevertheless, there are matters I must attend to."

"With the store owner, right?" Jodie asked. She then turned to Sura. "You were talking about that with him, weren't you?"

"I offered a little help," said Sura. "You can't take sleazeballs like that down the traditional way." She then paused. "Or you could. Just don't expect me to come in with complementary breakfast when you wake up here tomorrow morning..."

Jodie chuckled. "Fair enough," she said. She then turned to Kalo, shifting her posture. "You should take her help, Kalo. She's pretty good about that."

"You've only see me do it twice," said Sura.

Jodie shrugged. "You know what I mean," she said. She then turned to Kalo. "And I'm here, so I can help you deal with him, too."

Kalo looked down. "I... I do not know if it is proper," he said. "I know I have said I would appreciate the help, but now that we are all here, and that we can actually act on it... I feel like I am taking advantage of your kindness."

"Thus says the next quarian councillor," Sura said, shaking her head. "Look, kid, you've gotta accept a little help sometimes. He's breaking the law, you're a victim, and this cycle isn't going to end until something else comes in. Trust me."

Kalo then sighed, looking up to the asari officer. He then turned to Jodie, who offered him a smile. "And hey, you know how I am," she said. "If you need anything, I'll be right here. And trust me, you're not taking advantage of anything." She paused, before looking at him. "Believe me. You're not."

The quarian sighed. "I... Thank you," he said. "Nobody has ever offered this kind of aid before. I... I am at a loss for words..."

"Well, don't let us be at a loss for action here," Sura replied. She then looked at Jodie. "I get off shift here in about fifteen minutes. You mind waiting then?"

"Oh, no," said Jodie. She then turned to Kalo. "That will give us a little time to catch up, anyway."

"That it will," said Kalo. "Take as much time as you need."

"All right," said Sura. She then nodded and turned back to her workstation.

As she did this, Kalo and Jodie walked off to the side. As she did this, Jodie found herself looking around the office, smiling as she looked around. "They fix things pretty quickly around here."

"Well, that is something wonderful about the Keepers," Kalo replied. "They are very efficient at quick repairs. In truth, it almost makes me jealous."

Jodie nodded. "It certainly seems like it," she said. She then looked over at the quarian, giving him a smile. "I hope it doesn't get lonely there without me."

"Oh, no," said Kalo. "I grew used to the solitude long before you came." He shrugged. "And now that it has returned..." He paused, crossing his arms. "But that is enough about me. How is your guitar?"

"I... Huh, I haven't used it in a while," she said, chuckling. "But... I guess I really should pick it up, right?"

"Maybe," said Kalo. "Come. Take a seat."

And with this, Kalo and Jodie sat next to each other.

* * *

As soon as Sura was off of desk duty, the group set off for the ship vendor in question. Jodie settled into the seat of the C-SEC cruiser Sura was driving, marveling at how comfortable it was. Sura had mentioned she had planned to make no arrests, but the fact that the cruiser was out made Jodie feel a touch uncomfortable. Still, she appreciated not having to wait for the Rapid Transit to arrive: Jodie felt this would have wasted some time, and while she knew that the Normandy would not leave anywhere for a few days, Jodie knew that she wanted to help Kalo as soon as possible.

And as such, she looked over at Kalo, who sat on the passenger side of the cruiser. "So what's the plan?" she asked.

"I do not know if this will work, but I suppose we can try," said Kalo. He then looks over at Sura. "It is not illegal to... wiretap, is it?"

"It isn't if your idea of a good trial is submitting evidence that'll get tossed out immediately," the asari replied.

"I see..." Kalo looked over at the asari, his shoulders slightly hunched as he did so. "I suppose most people prefer not to be spied on."

"You can say that again," Jodie added with a small amount of sarcasm. She then looked over at Sura, noticing that she had changed out of her more casual C-SEC uniform. "Are you allowed to flash your badge in that?"

"Well... Only if you're a plainclothes cop." She then opened her omni-tool, holding her arm out to Jodie as she continued to drive. "And what do you think of that?"

Jodie blinked, leaning forward as she looked at Sura's qualifications on the badge. As she did, she noticed that 'plainclothes cop' was the other main listed qualification. "Huh," she said. "So you can theoretically do that."

"Yep," said Sura as she closed the omni-tool without even looking at it. "Doesn't mean I would flash it at everything, though. If you're doing that, you're just a jerk and you shouldn't even have one of these in the first place."

"Indeed, ma'am," said Kalo. He then walked over. "So... I assume both of you enter first to catch the conversation?"

"Something like that," said Sura. "I would have us all enter a few minutes apart so he doesn't notice anything odd first. Then we just sort of ask questions, make him think we're there to buy a ship."

"That is what I thought as well," said Kalo. He then looked at Sura. "And since Jodie knows very little about ships..."

"Well, yeah, I might want to go in first," said Jodie. "I guess I can get him to ask all sorts of things." She then paused, looking over at Sura. "And what if the shop is crowded?"

"Eh, ships are usually pretty expensive anyway," said Sura. "It won't be that crowded, trust me. Though, if we do have an unexpected visitor..." She then looked over at Kalo. "Anyone else who works at the shop?"

"Hm..." Kalo paused. "I believe he hired a salarian assistant recently. I have not talked much to this assistance, but from what little I can see of him he is perhaps a little more personable."

"Hm." Sura paused as the cruiser lowered to the ground. "Odd for the science guys, but there you go." The cruiser then landed, Jodie feeling the thrusters act on the ship. "We're here, though, so... Jodie. Say you want something like a cargo carrier."

"Cargo?" asked Jodie.

"Yes," said Sura. "It's cheap, it's a common model, they have plenty on hand..." She shrugged. "Only problem is that you'd need the proper licensing to get one, but most ship vendors will still tell you what goes in there if you just tell them you don't have a license but you're thinking about getting one." She then turned to Kalo. "You...  _do_ have the proper licensing for whatever ship you want, right?"

Kalo opened his omni-tool. "It should be processing," he said. "I have not received an actual license, but I did receive at least a number. Last I checked, the paperwork had not gone through yet." He then glanced to the side, his free hand sagging a little as he spoke. "I put it in last month."

"Hm..." Sura shook her head. "Well, you have a number, so that should be enough to go on. You want me to give that division a kick in the rear so you can get the actual license?"

"I... that would be appreciated," said Kalo. "Thank you, ma'am."

Jodie nodded. "Cargo ship, hm?" she asked. She took a few seconds, closing her eyes and internalizing that information. Aiden clicked in affirmation, and then Jodie looked up at Sura and Kalo. "All right. I think I've got it." He then looked over at Kalo. "I'll jump in if anything happens, all right, Kalo?"

"That would be appreciated."

Jodie nodded, and then the cruiser doors opened. "All right, here goes," she said.

She then stepped out of the cruiser, taking a second to look around. Her eyes settled on the shop in question, a quaint little place that was some distance away from the cruiser. Jodie guessed from the direction of the shop's doors that one could not see the cruiser from within the confines of the shop, so she knew that they would be all right. She clenched her fists, her hands opening and closing as she took a breath to steady herself.

She glanced up at Aiden.  _Behave_ , she said.

Aiden gurgled briefly, and then Jodie walked to the shop. She entered it, looking around inside at the various holographic images of various ship models. She paused upon entering, taking stock of the area around her. She glanced at the elderly turian being helped by a volus, her eyes concentrating a little on the oddly-shaped face mask that volus environmental suits were famous for. She then found herself, glancing to the side, looking over to a nearby black-spotted salarian. The amphibian noticed her enter.

She then approached, and the salarian perked up, giving Jodie a smile. "Hello, ma'am," the salarian began. "Welcome. Is there anything I can help you with today?"

Jodie smiled, leaning on the counter that the salarian stood behind. "Hm... Well, you might be able to help me with something," she began, looking directly at the salarian and making sure to establish good eye contact. "I'm... Well, I'm interested in maybe getting a... a cargo ship of some kind."

"Cargo ship, hm?" the salarian asked as he turned to his computer. "Sure, we've got plenty of those."

"Oh, good, I was hoping I would find that there," Jodie replied. She then shrugged. "And before you ask, no, I don't have the proper permits. Yet. I'm pondering getting one in the near future."

"Oh?" The salarian smiled, turning to Jodie. "If you want, I could also offer some downloadable literature. We offer half-price on the download with a special promo code."

Jodie blinked, leaning back. "Wait, there was a promo code?" she asked, her eyes narrowing. She tapped her fingers, shaking her head. "Damn it, and here I'd already ordered the literature on the basics..." She snorted, her omni-tool hand flicking slightly out of impulse. She found a few chills run down her arm, but she kept herself still as she could, fearing the slightest move could tip the salarian off to why she was in the shop before she was ready.

"Oh." The salarian shrugged, turning back to his computer. "Well, you've got the basic literature, so I guess that's fine." He paused, and then looked at Jodie. "Though you do seem to be a little odd for that kind of manual. There's a reason we provide that promo code."

"Eh, I... I had a little help there," Jodie replied, waving her hand dismissively. The chills spread across her arms, but she quickly squeezed her toes to keep it from getting to her too much. "Got lots of friends who are willing to step in, you know?"

"Ah," said the salarian. He paused, looking at Jodie. "And you're using it for civilian purposes."

"Well, to start, anyway," Jodie said. She shrugged. "I don't know if I'm good for commercial uses of a cargo ship, though."

"You might want to think about that," said the salarian as he returned to his terminal. "Commercial uses of cargo ships are the best way to get back your investment on the ship, you know."

"I do," said Jodie with a nod. "But I don't know if I'd be great at it..."

She moved to say more, but paused upon hearing the shop's door open. Her gaze scoured the area behind the salarian, but her fingers tightened when she could not find a reflective surface. She offered a smile, before quickly moving her head slightly to the side. Out of her peripheral vision, she could see the asari walk right in, passing by the turian that had just been helped by the volus. Jodie had to bite back a sigh of relief, and she turned back to the salarian.

 _Good_ , she thought.  _Now it's just Kalo who needs to get in here..._

"...imagine you don't have a very large budget for ship purchase at the moment."

Jodie blinked, realizing that she had tuned the salarian out for a second. Her surprise only manifested for a split second, and then she smiled, turning back to the salarian. She perked up as if she had heard everything the salesman had said, shifting her weight to one foot as she spoke. "Yeah, I don't," she said. "That promo code would have been pretty useful before."

"Indeed," said the salarian. "What price range were you thinking of looking into?"

"What's your cheapest price range?" Jodie asked as she stood upright. "I'm probably going to need to consider my options carefully at this point."

"Well... that would come out to about two hundred thousand credits, if you're looking for a new model."

Jodie jolted in place. "Two hundred thousand?" she asked. "I... whoah..."

"You did do your research on these matters, right?" the salarian asked.

"I... I did, yeah," said Jodie. She then chuckled nervously. "I did look into it, but I didn't think that it would be the cheapest model of ship everywhere..."

"Well, that is unfortunate, but it should be offset by making quite a bit of profit, no?" the salarian asked.

"That is true," Jodie replied. She leaned forward, chuckling. "Well, that changes a few things, then. I might need to come back here after a long while. Gotta save up all over again."

"Indeed," said the salarian. "But in the meantime, you can still review ship specs for what you want."

Jodie nodded, right as she heard the door open. "Of course," she said, looking at the salarian as he looked towards whoever entered. "I'd actually really appreciate it. Gives me something to adjust my expectations, you know?"

The salarian cringed briefly upon looking past Jodie's shoulder. Jodie frowned, but gave no further indication that she knew why the salarian was frowning. In her head, however, she reasoned that Kalo must have entered by then. She paid it no mind, however, looking back at the salarian.

"I... of course," said the salarian. He now looked considerably more worried as his gaze turned to the front of the shop. "I'll, um, get right on that."

Jodie frowned, turning to the front of the shop and seeing that Kalo had stepped up to the counter, the volus shopkeeper seemingly ignoring him as he helped Sura out a little. She then turned back to the salarian. "Problem?" she asked.

Jodie could feel the moment the salarian began to give off a cold sweat. "I hope not," said the salarian. He shook his head. "Quarian just came in." He shook his head. "Oh, I hope this doesn't result in a yelling match..."

Jodie frowned. "Why would it result in that?" she asked.

"I don't know what it is, but the boss has something against quarians," said the salarian. He shook his head. "Sorry. Hopefully it won't escalate into a yelling match." He then typed a few more things into the holographic keyboard at his terminal, before turning to Jodie and smiling. He then opened his omni-tool, and Jodie saw a holographic projection of a particular ship as well. "Well, perhaps we can start looking at sp-"

" _You again!?_ " Jodie and the salarian both turned around abruptly, and Jodie's blood froze as she saw Kalo lean away from the counter that the volus stood at. "I thought-" and there, Jodie heard a loud, mechanical wheeze interrupt the volus' speech- "I told you- _hooh-_ not to come in here- _hooh_ -again!" _  
_

Jodie turned to the salarian and cringed in turn. The salarian gave Jodie an apologetic look, but before he could say anything Jodie turned to look back at the scene. "Sir, I am a paying customer as well," Kalo replied. "Should it not stand to reason that-"

"Shut up- _hooh_ -clanless!" the volus yelled. "You'll just- _hooh_ - _steal_ whatever I have!  _Hooh_ -Just like every other one of you!"

"Well, I should believe it rather difficult to do that if I have not even attempted to made a purchase," said Kalo. "I have told you this repeatedly, but I am pretty sure I have the money together this time, and I-"

" _You never do!_ " the volus retorted. "You- _hooh_ -come in and never- _hooh_ -have the money!  _Hooh_... I thought I told you- _hooh_ -not to come in here- _hooh_ -or I would call C-SEC here- _hooh_ -to remove you.  _Hooh_... I may- _hooh_ -actually do it this time...  _hooh_..."

And it was then that Sura opened her omni-tool. "Well, unfortunately for you, you're a bit late for that," she replied, displaying her badge. "Officer Sura T'Lenya. Plainclothes division." The volus turned to Sura, his expression unreadable.

"Wh...  _hooh_... what?" the volus asked as Jodie and the salarian looked on.

"I'd heard a bit about your denying business to this quarian here," she said. "I thought I'd investigate." She then closed the omni-tool. "I don't have any reason to arrest you, and I don't have any reason to arrest this quarian here considering he could have stolen it at any time." Kalo leaned forward, but before he could interject, the asari continued. "After all, each time you told him no, he did leave without questioning you, right?"

The volus glanced to the quarian, before looking at the officer. "Um..."

"And if he  _did_ make attempts to steal that you saw, you would be willing to offer security footage of it, right?" Sura continued.

"Well...  _hooh_... I... um..." The volus replied.

"And he also tells me you may have been increasing the prices on him unfairly, is that right?" asked Sura.

"I- _hooh_ -don't know what you're talking about- _hooh_!" the volus replied. "These ships- _hooh_ -are already extremely- _hooh_ -expensive!  _Hooh_! He couldn't possibly have the money needed- _hooh_ -to buy any of the ships here!  _Hooh_!" _  
_

"And how do you know that if you won't even let him make the purchase?" asked Sura.

"I- _hooh_ -did!" the volus replied. "He did not- _hooh_ -have the money- _hooh_ -to pay!"

"Maybe, but nevertheless jacking up the price is not right," said Sura. "If you did it. I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt on this, but if you keep yelling like that you'll lose my sympathy  _very_ quickly."

She then crossed her arms. "Now here's what I'll do," she continued. "I don't want to have to arrest any one of your asses today, because frankly I've sorted through enough paperwork to make a  _salarian_ fall asleep. Arresting either of you will result in paperwork: as all my years on the force can tell you,  _nothing_ can make a C-SEC officer more bitter at everything than having to do  _more_ paperwork after an entire day doing nothing  _but_ paperwork." She then looked at the volus. "So I'm going to watch this transaction play out. I'm going to stay out as best I can. But if  _either_ of you do anything foul, I'm interfering. You two got that?"

Kalo nodded, looking at Sura. "It sounds quite fair to me," he said. He then turned to the volus shopkeeper. "What say you, sir?"

"Bah!" The volus exhaled, turning to Sura. "Fine.  _Hooh_. I'll do it your way.  _Hooh_."

Sura smiled, leaning against the counter. "Good," she said. She then turned her attention to the nearby salarian shop assistant. "You! Come over here and make sure he's not cheating!"

"Oh! Uh, yes ma'am!" The salarian could not cross the shop fast enough. After a few seconds, Jodie shrugged, following the salarian and coming to stand right beside Kalo. She shrugged, looking at the salarian before looking over Kalo's shoulder.

Kalo nodded. He then nodded. "Now, you...  _do_ know which one I hope to get, right?"

"Yes, yes," said the volus, typing away on the terminal. "I suppose- _hooh_ \- you want the employee discount too- _hooh_ -, right?"

Kalo shook his head. "No, actually," he said. "Just the ship itself will do."

"Hm..." The volus remained silent, the only response it gave being the inecessant huffing of its envirosuit. "And you said you wanted a... Kolwoon class freighter, right?" _  
_

Jodie and Sura immediately did a double-take, Jodie looking right over at Kalo. "A Kolwoon class?" asked Jodie, her eyes wide in surprise. "Kalo, are you out of your damn mind?"

Kalo blinked, looking over at Jodie. "What?" he asked. "Is it wrong for a quarian to have ambition?"

Sura groaned, immediately facepalming. "And you wonder why he thinks you won't have enough money," she said.

"I am not asking for the newest one," said Kalo with a shrug. "I am simply asking for one that I can repair."

"That is still going to be quite expensive," said the salarian behind the counter as he peered over the volus' shoulder.

"Perhaps, but I believe I can pay for it," he said. He then pulled his chit out, gingerly placing it down on the counter.

"I'll be the judge- _hooh_ -of that," the volus replied indignantly. He then stabbed at the terminal's screen. "I assume it is the very broken-down one.  _Hooh_. One hundred and eighty-nine thousand credits." He then exhaled harshly, the suit amplifying the motion as the volus turned to him. "Without tax."

Jodie shook her head, looking at Kalo. "And that is...?" she asked.

Kalo sighed. "Well, to be fair, it is perhaps the lowest price he has listed so far," he said. However, Jodie noticed the way his shoulders sagged. He then looked at his chit. "But..."

Jodie shook her head. "Kalo, you  _can't_ have that many credits," she said. "Not even with-" _  
_

"I do not," said Kalo. "I... I initially thought he was giving an inflated figure when he told me one hundred and ninety-two thousand credits, but it seems..."

"Bah, I  _knew_ it," the volus shopkeeper said, self-assuredly. He then inhaled harshly. "He doesn't- _hooh-_ have the credits for it."

"And you conveniently neglected to show him the actual price...  _why_?" asked Sura, leaning over the counter.

"I wanted to- _hooh_ -scare him off," he said. "If he- _hooh-_ wanted to save up for that much,- _hooh_ -he would never return to the Fleet."

"The actual price would have sufficed, sir," the quarian replied, his voice quiet and low. "I would have dropped it if you showed me it was the true price." Jodie could sense the disappointment ringing in his voice, and she saw the way the lights that stood in for his eyes dimmed a little bit. "There was no need to lie to me."

"And you could have suggested a cheaper alternative," the salarian added. "Well, if you don't mind my saying, sir."

Sura frowned. "So let me get this straight," she said. "You lied to him about the price to scare him away... Even though telling him the actual price might have done the same thing?"

" _Hooh_. Yes," the volus replied.

Sura shook her head, her frown intensifying. "With all due respect, you're setting off my bullshit alarm with such force that you could probably hear it from  _Omega_ ," she said. "You're sorely mistaken if you think I believe that for one second." She shook her head. "But, seeing as how he couldn't pay for it regardless, I guess I can't do anything about that, so I'll let you off the hook." Sura then leaned over the counter. "But if I ever hear your name in that context again, I'm going to make your day very difficult." She leaned back. "Now... what do you have to say to the quarian?"

The volus gave an aggravated sigh. "I'm sorry I- _hooh_ -lied to you about the ship price," he said half-heartedly.

Kalo nodded, and from the way the light played in his helmet, Jodie could tell that he was crestfallen. "I accept your apology," he said. "And I apologize for-"

Jodie instantly put her hand on Kalo's arm. She had not even processed the action, but her arm had instinctively moved, and she found herself looking at it comfortably. "I... Kalo, are you all right?" she asked.

The quarian sighed. "I am sorry, Jodie," he said, still quiet. "I dragged you into a situation I clearly had no hope of resolving. I should have done my research. I... I apologize for dragging you into this."

Jodie glanced up at him. She tilted her head, looking at him intently as his arms loosened in her grip. His shoulders seemed to sag even further than they already had, and Jodie was quick to pick up on the tone of disappointment in Kalo's voice. After a few seconds, she found herself glancing at the ground as well, pondering.

After a few seconds, she turned her attention to the quarian, her expression plain as she made what she assumed was direct eye contact with him. "You really wanted that Kolwoon Class cruiser, didn't you?" she asked.

"I did," he said. "It... It would be a way to help my people..." And then, he fell quiet, his gaze avoiding Jodie's eyes.

Jodie watched Kalo's head turn from her, the quarian's gaze remaining turned to the ground.  _Hm..._  Jodie thought.  _I wonder..._ She then glanced up at where Aiden might have been, her expression resolute.  _Aiden, do you think...?_

Aiden gurgled, a rather pensive one. Nevertheless, though, it took on a slight upturn of intonation at the top. Jodie nodded, looking over at Kalo for a few seconds more. Finally, she tapped her foot against the ground, nodding to Sura.

She then turned to the volus shopkeeper. "Stay right there," she said. "I'm going to make a quick call to someone."

And with this, Jodie turned to the shop's entrance, opening her omni-tool, her hands moving very quickly. She scanned the contacts list, going down every contact she had before she settled on one. She then nodded, smiling as she immediately stabbed the omni-tool interface. She then brought her hand up to her ear, stepping outside of the shop where she had good reception. The line rang once, twice...

And then on the third ring, she heard the call connect.

" _Hello, welcome to Moskas and Briers. This is Xerxes Garkaran speaking, how may I help you?_ " _  
_

Jodie smiled. "Hey Xerxes, it's Jodie."

" _Oh? Jodie!_ " Xerxes said elated. " _How have you been, Jodie?_ "

"I've been a little busy, but I'm on the Citadel right about now, so... Yeah," said Jodie. She then chuckled nervously, leaning against the outside wall of the shop. "Um... listen, this might sound like an odd thing to ask, but how much money do you have on you?"

" _Hm... That is an odd question,_ " he said. " _How much money are we talking here?_ "

Jodie glanced back at the shop, shrugging as she looked inside. "Enough to help a friend get a Kolwoon-class ship," she said. "Do you have that much?"

* * *

About twenty minutes later, Jodie watched as a sky-car landed in the same lot that Sura's C-SEC cruiser had parked in. After a few seconds, she saw the doors open, and she pushed off the wall she had been leaning against. And sure enough, there was that familiar turian, dressed in a very similar clothing style to the one she had first seen him wear.

Jodie beamed upon seeing him. "Xerxes!" she said.

"Jodie!" he said. He came up to her, and right on cue they both shook hands. "It's been a while since we've seen each other. You look like you're doing well!"

Jodie shrugged, though her smile did not falter. "I'm doing pretty well for being stuck chasing a rogue Spectre," Jodie replied. "How have you been?"

"Fine, just fine," said Xerxes. He smiled, looking over at the ship shop. "So this is the place, hm?"

"It is," said Jodie, crossing her arms.

"Hm..." Xerxes scratched at one of his mandibles. "Huh, I can't say I've ever visited this place."

"Well, here you go," she said.

"Heh, true," said Xerxes. "I guess that's another item I get to cross off on my 'places to visit' list."

"You keep a list of that stuff?" Jodie asked.

Xerxes shook his head. "No, but if I did I imagine it would make for a nice bucket list once I grow old," he replied. "But I've seen enough of this galaxy to tide me through my life."

"Well, there are always more places to go to," said Jodie.

"Perhaps," said Xerxes. He then gestured to the door of the shop. "I'll guess your quarian friend is still in there."

"He is," said Jodie. "Come on..."

With this, Jodie walked into the shop, Xerxes on her heels. As soon as Xerxes walked in, he made a beeline straight for the counter, with Jodie just ahead of him. Kalo stepped back, looking at Jodie and Xerxes as the lights behind his mask widened. This sentiment was echoed by both the volus and salarian shoprunners, all three of them looking at the turian as he crossed his arms in front of the counter.

Sura, meanwhile, just chuckled, a grin coming to her face. "Heh, I knew it," she said. "You never could turn away an opportunity to help someone, Xerxes."

"Well, Sura, you know me," he said. He then looked at the quarian. "Now... Kalo, was it?"

"Um... yes..." the quarian said nervously. "Look, I do not wish to trouble you if-"

"Oh, please, it's no trouble at all," said Xerxes with a dismissive wave of his talon.

"But you barely know who I am," the quarian pointed out.

"And?" Xerxes asked. "I barely knew who Jodie was when she got my chit back, and yet I helped her in quite a similar way."

"He does have a point," said Sura. "He's the big reason she's got a translator right now."

"Oh..." Kalo looked at Jodie, the lights behind his mask turning back to their usual size. "I see, then." He turned back to Xerxes. "I... I cannot thank you enough for this, sir."

"There's one way you can thank me," said Xerxes. "You can thank me by making sure to take good care of that ship."

"That will not be an issue, sir," Kalo replied. "But if you must, at least use some of my money." He then held his chit out to Xerxes.

But the turian shook his head. "You'll need that to start the repairs, won't you?" Xerxes asked.

"I... I do, but at the same time I cannot burden you with paying for the whole thing," said Kalo.

"Well, Kalo, I don't think you'll have to worry about that," said Xerxes. He then frowned, looking up as his eyes narrowed in thought. "Hm... there's a charming human phrase that talks about that, but I can't remember it off the top of my head..."

"I have- _hooh_ -money to burn?" the volus asked.

Xerxes nodded, smiling at the shopkeeper. "Yes, that was it, thank you," he said. He turned back to Kalo. "Please, I have built up a lot of credits over the years. Believe me, this shouldn't set me back too much. It's expensive, but it's not a week-long cruise to Invictus."

Kalo nodded. "I see," he said. "I... Very well, then."

"Glad we see eye to eye on this," said Xerxes, holding his chit out to the volus. "This should do it, no?"

The volus wordlessly swiped the credit chit on the counter, the salarian peeking over his shoulder. "It- _hooh_ -should," the volus replied, handing the chit back to Xerxes. "Now, since the ship is not- _hooh-_ being purchased in your name- _hooh_ -your quarian friend still has to- _hooh_ -sign the relevant paperwork."

"I can certainly do that, sir," said the quarian. "I may not have a license yet, but-"

" _Hooh_. Did they at least give you- _hooh_ -a number?" the volus asked.

Kalo nodded. "Right here," he said.

" _Hooh_. Then that's all you need for now,  _hooh_ ," the volus replied. "You don't need the license- _hooh_ -until you start driving around space- _hooh_ -with it."

Kalo nodded, and then he flinched a little as he heard a beep from the volus' terminal. "And the transaction- _hooh_ -just went through." He then handed a datapad to Kalo, the quarian gingerly taking it. "Here is your contract.  _Hooh_. You'll need to- _hooh_ -look this over and sign it.  _Hooh_. Once you do that, the ship is- _hooh_ -yours. Just don't break it- _hooh_ -right when you try to leave.  _Hooh_."

Kalo's shoulders lifted a little. "I... Keelah, I cannot even..." His voice shook in disbelief, and Jodie could tell from the way his he bowed his head that he was quite pleased. "Thank you. I shall sign this immediately."

And with this, Kalo turned, walking right to Sura as he began to look over the contract. He seemed uncharacteristically giddy, hunching over the datapad like a child with his first toy. Sura crossed her arms, looking at the quarian as his finger hovered over the datapad, the finger tracing up almost immediately as he looked over the datapad's contents.

Jodie nodded, looking over at Xerxes. "Thanks," she said. "It means a lot to him." Aiden gurgled his agreement, and though Jodie knew that nobody else in the shop could hear him she was glad he showed his appreciation.

"Hey, he's a friend of a friend," said Xerxes. "I'm glad to help, you know?" He then tilted his head. "Now, I should probably get going. I need to get prepared."

Jodie rose her eyebrows. "You're not going to stay?" she asked.

"I have a night at the opera I need to get to, and time is a bit short right now," said Xerxes. "I haven't seen  _Madama Butterfly_ yet, after all, and that  _should_ be fixed rather promptly. Or so I hear."

"Oh." Jodie chuckled. "Huh, I didn't think you'd be into... well,  _that_. I mean, it's so old, and I thought only people with class watched that stuff."

Xerxes chuckled, patting Jodie's shoulder lightly. "Never underestimate any art form, especially if there's music in it," Xerxes replied. He then nodded. "You know how to reach me if he wants to thank me. Just pass on my extranet mail."

"Of course," said Jodie. "You have fun at the opera."

"I'm very sure I will," said Xerxes. He then turned to the shopkeepers. "Have a pleasant day."

"And- _hooh_ -you as well, sir.  _Hooh_ ," the volus replied.

And with this, Xerxes made his way out of the ship shop, turning as he reached the entrance to look at the gleeful quarian. Jodie saw him smile broadly, and then he tapped the door panel and left the shop.

* * *

"Well, isn't she a beauty? I think she's missing some make-up, though. I've got some left over from my matron days if you need any."

"Sura, you're not helping."

"You're right. Perhaps I should donate my current make-up?"

Jodie groaned. "You're terrible."

"You know it." Sura smirked, then turned her attention back to the vessel in front of her.

Jodie and Sura looked over at Kalo'Veera's new ship. Or rather, the broken-down version of Kalo'Veera's new ship. They could tell just from looking at the exterior that the cruiser would need quite a few extensive repairs to be anywhere near ready to fly away. Jodie was not even sure Kalo could do it, and Aiden mirrored this sentiment if his reaction was anything to go by.

However, Kalo looked rather gleeful at it. "Well, it could perhaps use a helping hand," Kalo agreed. "But perhaps you forget that I am a quarian. With time, I should be able to have her running like she just left the assembly line."

"Dream on, kid," said Sura as she crossed her arms. "Well, I'm glad we got that sorted out."

"As am I, Sura," said Jodie. She shrugged, looking over at the C-SEC officer. "Well, unless you want to see the interior of this ship..."

"No, I'm not up for that," said Sura. "I'm just glad I didn't have to file more paperwork after getting off." She nodded, looking at Sura. "You take care of your new ship, Kalo'Veera. Goddess knows the Fleet could probably use it."

"I am certain they would, ma'am," said Kalo. He then turned to Sura and bowed. "Thank you so much for your help. And if you should see him, tell Mr. Xerxes that he has my gratitude as well."

"I'll let him know," Sura replied. "Keelah selai, Kalo'Veera."

Kalo's eyes widened slightly, but he bowed his head reverently shortly afterwards. "I... thank you, ma'am," he said. "Keelah selai."

And with this, Sura turned and walked away from Jodie and Kalo. Jodie watched her walk to the end of the dock, leaving the two of them to stand in front of the Kolwoon class cruiser. As soon as Sura vanished from sight, Jodie turned back to Kalo, shrugging. She smiled rather broadly, before crossing her arms and turning back to the cruiser in front of them.

"Well, we did it," she said. "We got you that ship you were looking for." She then looked over at the quarian. "How long do you think it'll take to fix this ship?"

"Quite a bit of time, I think," Kalo replied. "It is pretty large, after all. I will need plenty of resources, as well." He paused, and shrugged. "If I wanted to, I could even design the retrofit to adapt it to whatever purpose I wish it for, but that can be done at the Fleet, and perhaps more reliably as well. After all, they have the final say on what this ship would best use them for."

"Well, it is pretty decently sized," said Jodie. She then looked at Kalo. "What do you think it's like inside?"

Kalo looked at her, and from the way the lights of his eyes sparkled Jodie could tell he was quite happy. "Well, I suppose we could find that out, no?"

Jodie shrugged. "Sure," she said. "Why not?"

Kalo beamed, and then began walking over. "Then let us see what is inside, no?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Jodie as she followed Kalo. "Yeah, let's see what's in there..."

* * *

The interior of the Kolwoon class ship was actually rather empty. Kalo and Jodie had toured the whole ship, finding it rather empty. The interior itself looked somewhat well-kept, though, and it did look a good deal better than the outside of the ship did.

And it was such that Kalo knelt by one of the doors, his hand running over the bulkhead. "Hm... This could be useful as a science ship for the Fleet," he commented, his voice echoing a little in the empty hall. "The metal here looks pretty sturdy. I do not expect there would be anything chemical of nature that could be done, but it could easily research technology here..." He then stood up. "Or maybe it would be better used as a life ship. The environmental controls are good; with a little tweaking, we could set up hydroponics in here. Grow food."

Jodie looked up. "You can think of all those things just by looking at this thing?" she asked.

"Certainly," Kalo replied. He turned to Jodie. "If there are no possibilities, then why wonder?"

Jodie looked up, looking around him. "You think this will help the Fleet?"

"Of course," said Kalo. "I will have to fix it first, but I know it will help them. They always have a shortage of any kind of ship, truly." He shook his head. "There are seventeen million of us, Jodie. It is such a small number for a species, but on the Fleet that must scavenge all its resources, it is overwhelming."

Jodie nodded. "I see..." she said. She glanced off to the side, looking over at Kalo. "Is that why you thought big?"

"Yes," said Kalo. He looked up. "I am no son of an admiral, so this may be seen as extravagant. Perhaps a Pilgrimage gift does not need to be so large." Kalo sighed.

"I wondered about that," said Jodie. "I talked to Tali once about that. She's always talking about finding the right Pilgrimage gift because she's the daughter of an admiral and all." She looked over at Kalo. "And yet... I don't think even she is thinking as big as you are."

"Perhaps, but all the same, one can dream, right?" Kalo asked.

Jodie frowned, looking at the ship around her. "You needed help to get this ship," she pointed out.

"Perhaps I did," said Kalo. "I did believe I could purchase a ship like this, you understand."

Jodie shrugged. "Yeah, but sometimes you've got to be a little more realistic than this," she said, looking around. "If it hadn't been for Xerxes, we wouldn't be standing here. What would you have done then?"

"I would have kept working towards it," said Kalo. "Perhaps it was unrealistic. But..." He looked over at Jodie, his hand sweeping across the area in front of him. "But if it helps the Fleet, then what would the point be of not dreaming? Perhaps someday, this ship will help the Fleet in ways that I cannot dream of now. Is that not something noble to dream of?"

Jodie glanced to the ground, before looking at Kalo. "I guess not, but you shouldn't put your head in the clouds," she replied.

Kalo nodded. "Perhaps you are right," he said. He then walked away from Jodie, his hand trailing the walls as he walked to the opposite corner of the chamber they were in. "It will take a little time, but I think I can repair this hip quite well."

"Now  _that_ , I'm pretty sure you can do," Jodie replied. "Though... I don't think you have the resources..."

"Ah, never underestimate a quarian, Jodie," Kalo replied. "I do not have a secret stash, but I can still scavenge for resources well enough..."

Jodie blinked, glancing up at Aiden. The entity gurgled a little, and then Jodie nodded, looking at Kalo. "I'll bet you can," she said. "Though... speaking of secrets..."

Kalo turned to Jodie, his head tilting to one side. "Yes," he said. "You mentioned you had a secret of your own. I... am the first one you are telling, no?"

Jodie rubbed her arm, chuckling nervously. "Unfortunately... no," she replied. "Circumstances forced my hand during a ground mission..." She shrugged. "Two people on the Normandy found out. I'm sorry."

Kalo walked back to Jodie, shrugging. "It could not be helped, it seems," said Kalo. "I understand, and nevertheless we have now, no?"

"I guess that's true," said Jodie. She then sat down, leaning her back against the bulkhead. Kalo sat beside her, looking down at Jodie. "You should probably get comfortable. It's... it's hard to believe, really..."

"What is?" asked Kalo.

Jodie sighed, her gaze turning to the ceiling above. "Tell me, Kalo: do you believe in the afterlife?" she asked.

"The afterlife...?" Kalo looked to the floor, and Jodie could tell he was deep in thought. "I... Truly, I have never thought of it. Why?"

"I... It's somewhat related to me," she said. She then looked at Kalo. "I... For as long as I can remember, I've been attached to this...  _entity_. It calls itself Aiden, and..." She shook her head. "You're not going to believe me when I say this, but... he's connected to the afterlife..."

And right as Jodie finished saying this, Kalo's omni-tool beeped to life. Jodie and Kalo both jumped, the quarian lifting his hand to see that his omni-tool had opened of its own accord. "What...?"

Kalo looked on, noticing that the factory-installed picture creation program had opened. However, what really caused him to gasp out loud was the fact that it seemed to be drawing something on its own. Kalo glanced back at Jodie as he witnessed this, but Jodie kept her gaze trained on it. Jodie could see the moment when his other hand started shaking, and right as she turned her attention back to Kalo he had looked back at his open omni-tool.

And after a few seconds, the picture was finished. It was a picture drawn much like a six-year-old's crayon drawings, though Jodie could easily tell what it was. The girl in the picture looked somewhat similar to her, and the line that led up to the squiggly cloud-like mess in one corner of the picture looked much like a tether that Jodie herself had drawn. Kalo studied the picture, before turning back to Jodie.

"I..." He frowned, looking at the space above him. "I cannot see this thing."

"Neither can I," said Jodie. "But he exists." She then looked behind her, seeing that there was a small dent in the bulkhead. "You see that?" she asked, indicating the dent.

Kalo shifted, looking down at the dent. "I do..." he said. "Jodie, why is it relevant to-?"

The very next second, Jodie watched as the dent fixed itself. Kalo leaped back, looking at Jodie. Jodie nodded grimly, and then she glanced away.

"I... Keelah..." Kalo said, leaning forward. "I... What is that?"

"I don't know," said Jodie. She shook her head. "I'm sorry if I remained guarded about him, but people have used me for his abilities in the past. He's... He can do so much more than this, Kalo'Veera. You haven't even seen half the things he can do, Kalo. And he's been with me my whole life."

"I... I do not know..." He turned to Jodie, and Jodie could tell from the way his lights had widened. "This... This  _entity_..." He stood up, beginning to pace around the ship. "I find it troubling, Jodie."

Jodie nodded. "I expected that," she said. She then glanced to the side. "It's tough for everyone else to swallow. Especially among my peers..."

Kalo paused, looking over at Jodie. "Wait..." he said. "So your secret...?"

"I can't tell you how much it's made me different," she said. "All my life, I've wondered what it would be like without Aiden there... I never knew what normal was, and I've always wanted to know that. For the longest time, I wanted to be like other people, just being normal. In some ways, I still want that." She shook her head. "I've been isolated almost my whole life because of him. I can count the number of people who have been completely okay with it on one hand. There are more that come to terms with it sometimes, but those people are in the minority in my life. Everyone either ostracizes me, or they use me to do their dirty work."

"And the deception does not play into it?" Kalo asked.

"Well... No," she said. "This is probably the first time I've really tried to keep people from knowing about Aiden. Most others who ever knew about Aiden knew about him immediately, sometimes even before I met them. Some of them were ones I told eventually. But usually, I don't try to hide Aiden. This is the first time I've ever really thought about doing that, now that I'm finally away from Earth. Who knows what others could use me for here...?"

"I... I see..." said Kalo, looking down at Jodie. He then walked back towards Jodie, kneeling by her side. "Perhaps we have more in common than you might think."

"I doubt that," said Jodie. "You at least have your people that share your pain. I... I've never really had anyone I could relate to. At most, there were those who sympathized." She shrugged. "But you know, even with that, I'm thankful I know the people that did show that. I've never asked for anyone to relate. I've just asked that they accept. Because all told, that's enough."

Kalo nodded, before placing his hand on her shoulder. "I see," he said. "Hm... This is... strange. I have never heard of anything like this in my life." He then looked behind Jodie, frowning. "It... it will not be a problem, will it?"

"Not unless Aiden doesn't like you," Jodie replied. "He gets rather loud when he thinks you're up to no good."

"Well, I suppose that is a relief," said Kalo. He then looked at her, and Jodie could sense from the way his hand lightly squeezed her shoulder that he was pondering. After a few seconds, he nodded. "Well, Jodie, this... should not change too much about you, I do not believe. After all... you did help me on my Pilgrimage. I would be a rather horrible friend if I ignored that, no?"

Jodie smiled, patting Kalo's hand. "Thanks, Kalo," she replied. "You don't know how much that means to me."

"I believe I may have a fairly good idea," he said. He then stood up, looking around the ship. "I think I have some idea of how I want to start repairing this ship. It should require a pair of extra hands, though." He then offered a hand to Jodie. "You're here for a bit of time, right?"

"Yeah," said Jodie. She then grabbed Kalo's hand, and the quarian pulled her to her feet. "Yeah, I should be available."

"Good," said Kalo. "Come on. We need to purchase the required tools first. And then I might have to tell you how they work."

"Of course," said Jodie. "And hey, in the hard to reach spots, Aiden can be quite helpful."

Kalo looked back at Jodie as they both began to walk to the airlock. "Can it, now?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Jodie. "Come on, let's get those tools."

* * *

Repairing the ship with Kalo'Veera had taken a bit of getting used to, but before Jodie knew it she had gotten the swing of things very quickly. Of course, it helped that Aiden was far more attentive with those matters than she was, and Kalo seemed to genuinely appreciate every little piece of help the entity was able to provide. Thus, they passed the rest of the day rather pleasantly.

Of course, Jodie knew it was inevitable that they would have to return to the Normandy. However, Kalo insisted he walk her home, and that was just what Kalo did. The quarian remained quite attentive as Jodie walked to the Normandy. She watched as Kalo walked up to the railway, looking at it. Jodie could hear Kalo's gasp of shock.

"Keelah..." He looked back at Jodie, indicating the Normandy. "That... that is a beautiful ship, Jodie. If I were to get that, it would be the pride of the Fleet."

"Well, unfortunately, it's a prototype," said Jodie. "The Alliance probably won't be giving any of those away for a while."

"Perhaps not," said Kalo. He shrugged. "They should be privileged to have such a ship. It is quite a beauty."

"And it's also really advanced, too, if Tali's word is anything to go by," said Jodie with a smile. She then looked at Kalo. "Well... I guess I'll have to leave you here."

"Unfortunately," said Kalo.

He shrugged, and then held his arms out. Jodie looked at Kalo for a second, blinking a little in surprise. After that time, though, she shrugged, and then walked towards Kalo, hugging him rather gently. The quarian wrapped his own arms around Jodie, looking down at the top of her head as they held the hug.

"Thank you," he said. "For everything."

Jodie pulled away from the hug, still smiling the whole time. "You're welcome," she said. "You take care of yourself, Kalo. And let me know when you plan on leaving the Citadel."

"I will," said Kalo. "Keelah selai, Jodie."

Jodie smiled. "Keelah selai," she replied with a nod.

Kalo then turned away, walking away from the Normandy. Jodie herself then turned to the ship, walking towards the airlock with a bit of purpose. As she approached the gangplank, she turned, looking back at Kalo's retreating form. It was just in time, too, for Kalo had turned back to look as well. Jodie smiled broadly upon seeing the quarian, and then she turned towards the entrance of the gangplank and entered.

Right as she entered the ship's airlock, however, Aiden clicked repeatedly. Jodie frowned, looking up at the entity as the decontamination cycle began.

 _Aiden?_ she asked.  _Look, Aiden, I can be friends with whoever I-_

But Aiden clicked a few more times, and Jodie's frown only deepened.  _This is about **Shepard**?_  she thought.  _What... Aiden, what do you want to show me?_ **  
**

Aiden then gurgled, and Jodie's expression darkened as she heard this gurgle. Jodie had known Aiden long enough to know when he was perturbed about something, and this particular gurgle seemed to match the mood Aiden had been in when they had left the Normandy to meet Kalo. She frowned, crossing her arms and looking up.

 _The brig, huh?_  she asked. She nodded.  _Fine. I'll go check it out. But I hope I don't get caught down there..._

Aiden clicked rather brusquely. The decontamination cycle ended immediately after, as if to punctuate Aiden's exclamation. Jodie nodded, stepping into the Normandy and turning straight for where she knew the brig to be.

* * *

Jodie entered the brig quietly. She found nobody else nearby, though she did not hold her breath that it would stay that way. She wondered if Aiden had even cared to remember that they were trying to hide him from the crew until they were certain the Alliance was not listening in.

She pushed that thought out of her head, though, and she reached the spot Aiden wanted her to go to. When she came to a pause, though, she recognized the make-shift cell that still had yet to be dismantled. It was a portable holding cell that Shepard himself said he had gotten from the Alliance to hold any prisoners. The Normandy had not had a proper prison block installed, and everyone involved knew that to do so then would be pointless. Thus, they offered the portable variety, which Jodie was told was not a bad holding cell at all, provided the prisoner was not a biotic.

Upon looking at the cell, Jodie realized that she knew what Aiden was thinking. She gave an aggravated sigh, looking up at Aiden. "Aiden, I already know Balak was here," she said. "I don't know why you think this was so important that I had to see it, but—"

Jodie heard a click, and before she could say anything more, the door swung out as if nudged open by an invisible force. Jodie stopped, looking as light flooded into the make-shift cell.

It was then that she saw a small spot on the floor of the cell. The spot was the color of dark rust; judging from the fact that this color seemed to have splashed on the floor, Jodie quickly realized that she was looking at a bloodstain, and one that had been cleaned somewhat as well. She took a quick glance behind her before kneeling down in front of that part of the cell, her hand slowly coming up to the bloodstain in question. As soon as one of her fingers touched the stain, she felt her heart skip a beat upon realizing that it had dried considerably.

Her earlier fears of being found out were almost completely erased by then, instead replaced by a mounting sense of unease. Her skin started to crawl as she slowly withdrew her hand from the dried bloodstain.

Jodie turned to look at Aiden, her heart starting to beat faster as her eyes widened in fear. "Aiden, whose blood is this?" she asked. "Is it… Is it Shepard's?"

Aiden said nothing, but in a few seconds, Jodie felt the air around her finger vibrate a little strangely. Upon noticing this, Jodie took a deep breath in a feeble attempt to calm her steadily accelerating heartbeat. She closed her eyes, feeling the vibrations get slightly more intense.

 _Oh no…_  she thought.  _This better not be…_

She opened her eyes while looking down at the spot.

_It was just in time, too, for during the very next second Jodie felt some kind of force act on her body. She stumbled back due to this force, but she recovered quickly enough to remain on her feet, even if she was no longer halfway in the cell._

_As she looked to the spot she was at a second earlier, she noted that the world had taken on a black and white hue, with all of the surfaces around her blurred. The cell door had closed again, though there was an otherworldly aura surrounding the bars. Of most note to Jodie was the ghostly-looking version of Balak that peered out from the cell; his hard glare seemed to bore into someone just behind Jodie, and his lips were curled in an angry sneer._

_"My imprisonment doesn't change anything," Balak said. "The batarians have stayed hidden long enough. There are thousands more like me out there, waiting their turn. Each one willing to die for our cause."_

_"And what cause is that?" Jodie turned to the source of the sound to see a ghostly apparition of Shepard standing there, looking down at Balak contemptuously. "Taking any planet you choose? Enslaving thousands?"_

_"Slavery is a part of our culture," Balak retorted._

_"Your culture is wrong," Shepard replied._

_Jodie slowly shifted her posture, being careful not to let the vision around her fade away._

_"How dare you!" Balak said indignantly, rushing up against the door of his cell and banging against it. "You would dare label my culture wrong, you racist bastard?"_

_Shepard chuckled condescendingly. "When said culture is based on an oppressive caste system?" he asked. "Yes. I would, actually. It also makes you a hypocrite, but that's a different conversation entirely." He then leaned forward. "And let me tell you something: I know of many cultures that adhered to your practices. They all fell when the slaves rebelled. So when the slaves rise up, that's when you'll have to ask yourself: what is to blame?" He then stepped back. "It's with the culture."_

_"Then I'm surprised more human cultures didn't fall to slave revolts," Balak replied. "Or do you not know your own history?"_

_"I know it well enough to know that you are partaking in a special kind of evil," Shepard replied. "And that it is an evil that completely invalidates whatever your culture can offer."_

_Balak growled in fury, his teeth bared as he clutched the cell door with enough force that Jodie thought he would dent the metal. "You lie!" He then took a deep breath, looking at Shepard. His stance had calmed down, but Jodie still saw the same fire in Balak's eyes. "You will find out soon enough, anyway. When your colonies burn, you will know that the Hegemony will rise again! And we will rise on the bones of your people!"_

_Jodie turned to look at Shepard, who continued looking down at Balak. Instead of remaining silent, though, Jodie heard Shepard chuckle dryly._

_"I doubt that," said Shepard. "I sincerely doubt that, Balak, you stupid son of a bitch."_

_Jodie flinched in surprise upon hearing this language come from Shepard. This sentiment was shared by Balak, who frowned not in anger but in confusion. Very slowly, the fire began to leave Balak's eyes as the batarian looked up at Shepard._

_"And what makes you say that?" Balak asked._

_Shepard then walked right up to the bars, kneeling at Balak's level while looking at him in disdain. "Well," Shepard began, his arm snaking through the bars close to Balak's head. "That would require bones to rise upon." Shepard's hand then came behind and gently gripped the back of Balak's head. The batarian jumped in obvious discomfort, his eyes quickly darting to Shepard in a mixture of disgust and maybe the barest hint of fear._

_In reply, Shepard simply shook his head at Balak._

_"In my case, I'm afraid there are no bones but my own."_

_Shepard then forced Balak's head against the bars in such a way that Balak maintained unbreakable eye contact with Shepard. Before Balak could react, Shepard's eyes glowed an angry, unnatural red that contrasted against the black and white of the scene around them. Jodie gasped rather loudly at the suddenness of this gesture, and she found herself fighting the urge to even give the slightest jolt backwards. Balak was frozen to his spot, the batarian unable to move a single inch as Shepard held his position for what felt like eternity. Jodie could only watch with bated breath._

_Finally, the red glow faded, and Shepard released Balak rather violently. The batarian fell back, his eyes wide in shock and his arms shaking. Jodie watched the slaver in silence, feeling her own heart pound against her chest as Balak tried to get his bearings._

_After some time, Balak lurched forward, and vomited a black-looking substance onto the floor._

_Jodie flinched upon seeing Balak vomit._  So it was  _Balak's_ blood...  _Jodie thought. She then looked at Shepard in shock._ But then what was…?

_"What… What did you do to me?" Balak asked at a volume barely above a whisper. When Jodie looked at Balak, she noticed that his posture was hunched over, and he was frantically looking between his own hands and Shepard._

_Shepard simply took a step back, raising his arms in the air. "Rejoice, animal," he said. "I have just given you the gift of enlightenment." Shepard then dropped his arms, holding them behind his back. "First, you will see visions of the cosmos, visions of the universe. You will be lifted up into_ true _sentience." Shepard paused, looking at Balak with a gleeful glint in his eye that caused goosebumps to shoot up Jodie's arm. "You will feel the great glory of finally understanding the whole of the everything. And for the first time, you will truly know what it is to be uplifted, what it is to have_ true  _intelligence." He then splayed his arms out, his smile almost unnatural. "And right when you have just reached the zenith, right when you are about to touch the pinnacle, right when you are about to become one with the universe…" Shepard then leaned in close to the cell, Balak reeling back on a pair of shaking arms. "That is when your true nature will drag you away from your supremacy. For you will then see visions of every single person you've caused harm to throughout your miserable, contemptible existence. You will not just see those that you have directly harmed; you will also see those that you have harmed indirectly. You will see the pain and suffering you have inflicted upon them."_

_Shepard stepped back and resumed his pacing at that point. "With this wisdom that I have gifted to you, these visions will consume you. Food will have no taste, water will not quench your thirst, and the very airwill burn your lungs." Shepard paused again, glancing right at Balak. "And then—only then, as your body wastes away from the pain—only then will you understand that you have only wrought all of this on yourself." He then slowly walked back up to Balak. "As you realize this, your mind will start to slip away. Madness will set in, but not too quickly; it will give you enough time to feel these visions flay your soul as you are destroyed in the most complete manner imaginable. I will bring you to true existence, I havebrought you to true existence; but everything that you have done will destroy you. All that, because you will know, you will comprehend, that your actions are the cause of your own undoing, and that justice comes for all."_

_Jodie's eyes widened at the way Shepard finished. Her arms shook slightly, and it was only then that Jodie realized that her mouth was dry. "Aiden… Aiden, this can't be—!"_

_"You… You **monster** ," said Balak, his voice returning to him. "You dare to criticize my people when—?"_

_"Save your opinions," Shepard replied. "The ramblings of an ignorant little animal like you hold no sway over me, particularly when you have spent your whole life chaining those who are not you." He then crossed his arms, looking down at Balak. "As far as I'm concerned, you and the rest of your pathetic ilk deserve it."_

_As Balak quietly fumed, Shepard shook his head. "Don't bother to tell them I'm not human," Shepard continued. "They would never listen to a lowly batarian terrorist like you, especially as you start to lose your sanity. You may have one last chance at redemption: the madness will have yet to set in. In that time, it may be possible to give whatever intel you have to the Alliance. But after that… After that, you will slowly waste away, and there is nothing in this galaxy that will be able to save you." He then bowed his head. "Consider it a parting gift from all the people you killed on that station."_

_"You… You…" Balak replied, his voice seething with a kind of hatred that Jodie had never heard before._

But before Balak could say anything more, the vision dispelled, leaving Jodie to stare into surroundings. After a second or two, Jodie blinked, turning her attention to the cell to find it empty, just like the rest of the brig.

Her breath came in short, ragged bursts as she slowly pushed herself to her knees. She glanced at the cell again, remembering in vivid detail the way Balak's hands shook after whatever Shepard did with the red glow. Jodie squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to get the image out of her head, though it was an attempt that would be in vain.

Eventually, she stood up. And as she held the cell walls for support, she looked at Aiden.

"Ai… Aiden, please tell me that you didn't actually see that," she said.

But Aiden's perturbed whoosh provided all the answer Jodie needed. He had indeed witnessed what Jodie had just seen in the vision, and this truth slowly dawned on Jodie when she looked into the cell to see the bloodstain which triggered the vision.

In response, Jodie shivered in horror, squeezing her eyes shut as she gripped the edge of the cell.


	16. Chapter 15

Jodie tossed in her sleep. After a few seconds, she finally let out an aggravated sigh of frustration, before opening her eyes and looking out past the glass of the sleeping pod. Aiden chirped in concern, his chirps unusually warm and welcoming. Jodie was quite thankful for that, at least, though she knew that there was everything else wrong with the situation.

"Yeah, I can't," said Jodie. "I just... I can't get my mind off of it..."

Jodie sighed as Aiden gurgled. Her vision of Shepard's actions towards Balak had been on her mind for a few hours. She had long vacated the brig after seeing Shepard, and she thought that trying to sleep on it would be nice. She needed the sleep anyway considering how busy her day had been, but she just could not get her mind off of Shepard.

Jodie sighed, turning away. "I... I don't know, Aiden," she said. "I... I don't know what I'm supposed to do with that. I mean..."

She shook her head, her hand coming over to her omni-tool. She knew that Aiden's visions only told her of things that happened in the real world. Aiden could not make up a vision no matter how hard he attempted it, and she further knew that he would not show her a vision if he had no reason to. She had finally learned one reason why Aiden distrusted Shepard so much, but on the other...

"Maybe... maybe he's just like us," she said. "And maybe he just needs someone to help him see things as they are."

But Aiden trilled angrily, the sound causing Jodie's skin to crawl. Aiden followed this up with a rapid series of clicks, all of them short and punctuated. Jodie sighed, brushing some hair out from her face.

"No, you're right..." she said. "If he makes people go insane..." She shook her head, huddling in fear. "But what can we do? It's Balak we're talking about here, Aiden. You saw what he did. May... Maybe he was already lost. I don't know... Maybe that's what happened." She gulped, finding herself chewing on her lower lip. "That's all it is, right? Just punishment..."

Aiden responded with a flat chirp.

Jodie released a breath she didn't know she held. "I just... I don't know," she said. She then shook her head. "I can't think about this now, Aiden. Just... leave me be. Please."

She then turned away, facing the side of the sleeper pod. She pulled her arms together in front of her, shivering slightly as she felt the coolness of the air around her worm its way into her skin. The air seemed extra cold even within her pod: Jodie knew it defied all logic, especially since Aiden would not subject her to that. But it could not be helped: she simply felt cold all over, and this combined with the thoughts racing through her head kept her awake.

She had just started to close her eyes to try to dispel the thoughts when she heard a loud knock on the glass. She jolted awake, looking over to see Kaidan knocking on the glass that hovered directly over her.

"Ah! Kaidan!" said Jodie. "I..."

Kaidan nodded, before punching a code to open the sleeper pod. "Hey," he said. "Trying to get some sleep?"

"Oh... Um... yeah," said Jodie, looking at him with wide eyes. "Sorry. Bad time?"

"Maybe," said Kaidan. He opened his mouth to add more, but then paused upon seeing Jodie. "Jodie, are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm... I'm fine," she said, chuckling nervously. She felt a cold sweat travel down her temple, though, and she moved to wipe it off. "I just had a little difficulty sleeping is all."

Kaidan frowned for a brief second, before nodding and looking over to the side. "Sorry to have woken you, then," he said. "But... well, Shepard wants us all in the briefing room. We've been given a bunch of assignments by the Alliance relating to something they've uncovered recently."

Jodie frowned. "About what?" she asked.

* * *

"They call themselves 'Cerberus'."

Ashley frowned, leaning forward in her chair as she looked at Shepard. "Cerberus?" she asked. "That's... that's an odd reference."

Liara looked over at Ashley. "Cerberus is a reference?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Jodie. "In Greek mythology, Cerberus was the guard dog of the underworld. That's what I heard, anyway."

"The underworld?" Liara asked.

Ashley shrugged. "The ancient Greek version of the afterlife," she replied. "Basically, it kept mortals out of the underworld."

"Oh." Liara nodded, crossing her arms. "Is that what makes this such an odd reference?"

"Perhaps," said Shepard. He then frowned deeply, looking at all of them. "I've had this data consolidated by outside sources. The Alliance hasn't done much to gather intel on this group, but... suffice it to say, we've run into them before."

"Wait..." said Wrex. "That mission where we were attacked by that thresher maw..." He then leaned forward. "That was them?"

"Yes, and the man who gave us that mission vanished recently," said Shepard. "He said he was going to look into the reason why his men were killed, and... well, we've been tasked with finding him." He then paused. "We also have various assignments that may be linked with this group."

"Hm... Should we really be doing that when Saren is still on the loose?" Garrus asked.

"Well, we don't have any leads on where to go right now," said Kaidan. "If this Cerberus group is a threat, it might be worth it to look into it now while we've got a lull, right?"

Garrus nodded. "True," he said. "I just want to get back to chasing Saren down. He still needs to be brought to justice for what he did."

"Trust me, Garrus, we all do," said Ashley. She then turned to the front. "When do we start with this Cerberus group?"

"We start as soon as the Normandy leaves its dock," Shepard replied. He then crossed his arms, looking out at the group. "I'll brief you on further details as we go. Any questions?"

Jodie looked at the rest of the crew. She thought about asking about Balak, about everything that had happened with him. But then she glanced at Shepard, seeing his expression. There was a fire in his eyes that Jodie had never seen before, almost as if it had been bred from anger. Jodie glanced to the side, before shaking her head. As she did this, just about everyone else mimicked the notion.

"No, sir," said Kaidan.

"Good," he said. He then turned to Tali and Kaidan. "I want you two on the first of these assignments. Wrex, prepare yourself as well. You might like this kind of fight."

Wrex flashed a gleeful smirk. "Glad to hear it, Shepard," he said. "Just give me the word and I'll be ready."

"Good," Shepard replied. He then turned to everyone. "You're all dismissed. I'll let you know when I want you on the ground team for the next mission."

And with this, the briefing ended. Jodie found herself standing up a little slowly, casting a last glance at Shepard before exiting out into the mess hall. The whole time she remained quiet, her gaze cast towards the ground as she silently took her seat.

* * *

Jodie had decided to spend the first of those missions around the hangar bay, if only so she could see how Shepard reacted as he returned to the ship. Jodie's curiosity began to overtake her then, and even if Shepard would not take her on the ground team for the next few missions she knew she had to keep a hawkish eye on him, at least to see what else he was hiding behind that human-like façade.

Meanwhile, she had taken to cleaning out her assault rifle, opening the thing and cleaning out all the components. By then, the cleaning had become something of a routine for her. She already knew Ashley had cleaned out the assault rifle by then, but something about it gave her mind something else to occupy its time. She was at least glad she could get the reprieve from having to think about Shepard so much.

The only true issue she had was that she had to do it out in the open. But that, she did not mind so much. After all, the fact that people were looking at her was not so important. The assault rifle gave her something to focus on, gave her hands something to do. And miraculously, her hands did not really shake as she worked on the gun laid out in front of her. For this, Jodie was thankful, and she was even thankful for Aiden's quiet clicks as she worked.

And then, just as she was assembling the assault rifle again, she heard a loud klaxon go off, before the hangar door started opening. She nodded, quickly putting the rifle together again. She looked out to the hangar bay door, seeing the blue sheen of the mass effect field just beyond the hangar door, before she saw the Mako come driving right up into the hangar bay. It settled into its usual spot, and Jodie thought she could see the requisitions officer taking a step back from the Mako.

The Mako parked abruptly, Jodie hearing the Mako skid into place. She cringed at the skidding, looking over at the Mako. She ignored the hangar bay's doors as they closed, slowly putting the rest of her assault rifle together. As she did this, she heard angry yelling from within the Mako, right before the hatch of the Mako opened.

Jodie then bore witness to Shepard storming out of the tank, the commander's feet literally  _stomping_ the ground as he made his way to the elevator. He stabbed the hologram with a little more violence than was usual, and Jodie could faintly see that the Commander's normally reserved expression was twisted into an angry snarl. Jodie's breath caught at the loud exhale that she could hear from where she was, and she nearly dropped the assault rifle from the surprise.

As if it had read Shepard's mind, the elevator doors opened, and Shepard stepped inside. He seemed to stab the call button, taking it up another level. The elevator doors then closed behind Shepard, and it was only then that she realized that Tali, Kaidan, and Wrex were left outside.

After a second or two, Jodie walked over to the elevator, looking at the group that was left behind. "What... what was that?" Jodie asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Wrex replied.

Jodie looked at the elevator, before turning her attention to the others. "I... have any of you ever seen him that angry?"

"No," said Tali, shaking her head as she looked down in dismay. "I... It must have happened when Cerberus was mentioned."

Jodie nodded, holding her hand close to the top of her shirt. "I see..." she whispered. She then looked to the group. "What did we find in there?"

"We found Kahoku," said Kaidan. "He's dead."

"The bastards locked him with a bunch of those things we saw while we were on Feros," said Wrex. "Gave us a good fight, but we were armed. Admiral Kahoku..." Wrex clenched his fist, looking away. "Can't blame him for being pissed. These Cerberus people... what damn cowards."

"Well, I wouldn't put it like that, but..." Tali shook her head. "I don't know, Wrex. This seems seated...  _deeper_ than this."

"He hasn't gotten this angry around you?" Kaidan asked.

"I'm afraid not..." said Tali. She sighed, looking up at where the captain's quarters would be. "I want to talk to him. He seemed so angry down there, but... when he first had an outburst, I saw there was sadness behind his rage. I do not think it would be appropriate, but there seemed to be...  _more_  there than anyone can see..."

Kaidan shook his head. "Maybe not now, but you can talk to him later, once he's calmed down," he said. "I don't think he'll mind so much. You are his closest friend, after all."

Tali nodded. "That's true, but all the same it may be improper to put myself into the captain's business..." she stated.

"Don't sell yourself short," Wrex grumbled. "I don't think he sees you as someone who's just under his command. He'll talk if you go to him."

Jodie could only offer a nod of agreement, even though all the muscles in her neck protested against it. Aiden clicked, his tone uncertain as Jodie looked at the others.

Tali's shoulders drooped, before she sighed. "I suppose so," she said. "Maybe not now, though. Perhaps... later might be a better time."

"We'll be going on more Cerberus-based missions than just this," said Wrex. "If he gets that angry now, I don't think you'll want to face his wrath after more of these."

"I'm not sure that's a problem," said Kaidan. "As we go through, I doubt he'll stay this angry," Kaidan replied. He then looked to the others. "But if he does... well, Tali, you can talk to him, right?"

"I guess so," Tali replied, glancing down at the floor. After a few seconds, she sighed. "I think we should wait until we're called to debriefing, though."

Kaidan nodded. "I guess I can see that," he said.

"Works for me," said Wrex. He then turned, walking away from the group. "I'll be at my usual spot if you need me to crack a head open."

As Wrex sauntered off to his corner, Tali nodded. "I should probably help Adams check the levels," Tali replied. "I'll be there if you need me."

Jodie nodded, Kaidan being left with her. "Fair enough," he said, bowing his head towards Tali. "I'll see you at the debriefing, Tali."

The quarian nodded, and then walked over to the engineering deck. Jodie sighed, her thoughts immediately turning back to Shepard. As she did this, though, her gaze turned back to Kaidan, and it was then that Jodie noticed that his gaze was fixed on her. She then blinked, taking a step to the side in surprise. Kaidan simply tilted his head towards her, closing his eyes as he placed his hands behind his back.

"Hey, Jodie," said Kaidan. "Is something wrong?"

Jodie blinked, and then glanced to the side. "Oh, no..." she said. "Nothing's wrong, Kaidan. I was just..." She then chuckled, glancing to the side as she gave a half-hearted smile. "I was just worried about Shepard. I don't know about you, but seeing him get so angry for the first time? That's... that's an odd thing to see, right?"

"I guess it is," Kaidan said, his expression relaxing. "I'm headed to the mess hall. You're welcome to join me there in a little bit, if you wouldn't mind the company."

Jodie nodded, hearing her stomach growl. "Hm... I guess I could use it too," she said, her thoughts immediately gearing around more ways to take her mind off of Shepard. "I'll join you in a bit," she said. "Let me just put this assault rifle away and I'll be right there."

Kaidan smiled. "I'll see you up there, then," he said. He then walked towards the elevator, pressing the call button as soon as he did.

Jodie nodded, turning back to the locker. She heard the elevator doors open behind her, but she paid no mind to whether or not Kaidan entered. Instead, she continued walking over to her locker, and she heard Kaidan's footsteps as he entered the elevator.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, Jodie heard Aiden gurgle, a sound that was unusually clipped. Jodie had reached her locker by then, so she simply replied by opening the locker a little more forcefully than usual. She then looked up, her expression showing clear frustration as she shook her head.

 _Aiden, you know how it is,_  she thought.  _I don't want to jump the gun here. I'll tell him if anything else comes up._

Aiden grunted plainly, and Jodie knew from the tone that he was not really all that pleased. Nevertheless, she stowed the assault rifle back in place, and then closed the locker door with some finality. And with this, she turned to the elevator, her step a little quicker than before.

* * *

As Kaidan had predicted, Shepard did not stay angry forever. He still came back somewhat steamed whenever they dealt with a mission that seemed to have Cerberus' stamp all over it, but after the first mission he only showed it with a deep frown. He did exchange a few lines with people whenever he went up to his quarters afterwards, and so, Jodie saw it as some amount of progress.

The effect on the crew was immediate, of course. The crew seemed to loosen up around him, though a few of them still remained very tense regardless. Oddly, the atmosphere was more tense with the side mission than they had been gathering information on Saren and what he was looking for. Jodie attributed it to the commander's anger at Cerberus, which remained completely unexplained.

Jodie had good reason to be doubtful when she first heard from Tali that he had never explained the source of his extreme hatred of Cerberus: to most others, it was just reticence on the Commander's part, but after having seen what Shepard did to Balak, Jodie knew that she could never be too certain about the Commander's motivations. Aiden had offered to look through the Commander's information, but Jodie had expressly forbidden it: she knew better than to tamper with those files. After all, Shepard would probably be able to tell they had been tampered with, and if Shepard knew that, Jodie knew it would affect the mission negatively.

And so, she maintained her newly-acquired distance from the Commander. She would stay in the room if he entered, but she rarely engaged him in conversation anymore. She found herself having to bite back several suspicious looks as well: she knew Shepard could not know that Jodie knew about at least part of his secret.

Life went on as usual on the Normandy.

* * *

And then, on a separate mission, Jodie was in the hangar bay when the Mako parked there. And this time, Jodie watched as he stormed off without even looking to Tali. She then watched as he punched the call hologram to the elevator, and then stood there steaming. She expected the elevator doors to open, and for Shepard to enter.

Of course, Shepard immediately let out a loud scream of rage, rushing over to the side of the elevator and punching the wall in fury. Jodie jumped as she witnessed this, her heart skipping a beat as Shepard punched the wall again. Jodie faintly noticed that Shepard had punched the wall hard enough to dent it, which surprised her and everyone else in the room. Shepard breathed loud enough that his exhales could be heard by everyone in the hangar bay. He looked around, his eyes narrowed in fury and his shoulders hunched over.

There was complete silence around the hangar bay for several seconds, Jodie finding the air so thick she could almost choke on it. Even the ground team stood frozen by the Mako, with Liara, Ashley, and Tali all standing around in shock. Shepard breathed in and out, his eyes wildly darting about as he looked at everyone in the hangar bay. He said nothing, however, and Jodie could see his expression slowly shift from one of pure fury to one of intense sadness.

After what felt like hours, the elevator doors opened. Shepard stepped in them, stabbed the call button to go up, and then the doors closed behind him.

The hangar bay remained frozen in place in light of the commander's departure. The silence became almost too thick, as even the low hum of the engine over in the next room seemed to fade away from existence. Not even Aiden dared say anything, and Jodie knew that that was a huge thing. She found herself breathing in, looking over at the ground team, finding them as confused as everyone else.

And then Jodie ran over to where they were, her footsteps breaking the silence as she approached the others.

"What the hell happened?" Jodie asked.

"I... I don't know," said Liara. "He was just... we ran into a survivor on Akuze down there. Shepard was dealing with the survivor, who had been held hostage by a scientist from this Cerberus group. And then..."

"Shepard went  _ballistic_ ," Ashley added. "He just started screaming about how Cerberus had taken away everything he'd ever cared about, about how Cerberus was evil... I've never seen a commanding officer get so angry." She looked over at the elevator doors, and then back to the small dent in the wall. "I also didn't think the Commander could punch through metal like that. Or that it was even possible to do that without breaking something."

Jodie frowned as she turned her own attention to that dent. "Neither did anyone else," said Jodie. "Though... I think I see some blood in that dent."

"Well, most people that try that get their arms shattered," said Ashley. "I don't know what it is, but all these things together... There's..."

But Tali was already walking towards the elevator. "I need to talk to him," he said.

Before Jodie knew what she was doing, she grabbed Tali by the wrist. "Tali, wait," she said, looking at the quarian. The quarian paused, turning to Jodie. "Tali, are you sure? I don't know if... I don't know if that's really that wise."

"He's... he's hiding something about this Cerberus thing," Tali replied. "I... I'm probably the only person he'll tell willingly. If I can tell you I will, but... he needs someone there for him, right now."

Jodie frowned. "I guess, but..." She shook her head, letting Tali go. "Just be careful."

"Of course," said Tali. She then shrugged. "I'm a quarian, Jodie. I'm quite resourceful."

And with this, Tali turned to the elevator and ran towards it. As soon as she hit the call button, Jodie turned back to Ashley and Liara.

The asari bowed her head. "It seems so strange that he would have that reaction," said Liara. "I think Tali is right about Shepard. There is something between him and Cerberus he isn't telling us about."

"I know," said Ashley. She then glanced at the elevator, walking towards Jodie and opened her omni-tool. "Shepard shot that scientist in the head. Didn't even give any of us a warning. It just... happened. Even the hostage was creeped out." Ashley sighed, looking ahead. "I hope we get a new lead on Saren soon so we can finish that damn mission. I'm not sure I like the thought of serving on the Normandy with a commander who's quick to lose his temper."

Jodie frowned. "You'll even take superiors who'll dock you for your family name?" she asked.

"That probably won't be an issue," Ashley replied. "After all, if I get out of this mission alive, I get to say I served with the first human Spectre."

Jodie glanced to the side. "Yeah, that's... that's always a plus," she said, looking to the side. She then looked up at Ashley. "Is there something else the Commander did?"

"There is, as a matter of fact," said Liara. She then opened her omni-tool. "He told us to take an image with us. Said image... was this."

The asari then opened a picture, the image displayed on the omni-tool. The image featured an insignia that Jodie had never seen before, and that Jodie felt intimidated by almost by looking at it. The insignia looked something like the outline of a diamond, all in black against the white cloth. To the sides of this black diamond, there were a few orange lines that curved around the edges of the outline, going up about three-quarters of the way before stoping. Jodie inspected it, her eyes narrowing.

"Is that...?"

"It seems to be their emblem," Liara replied. "I don't know why he would want us to know their emblem, but Shepard told us to take an image of it."

"It's an odd order," said Ashley. "But, I'm a soldier, and soldiers follow orders, so here we are."

"It certainly seems like it," said Jodie shaking her head as she crossed her arms. She then shrugged, looking over at Ashley. "It's a sleek logo, I'll say that. Certainly fits a black ops group pretty well."

"It certainly does," Ashley replied as she closed the omni-tool. "Well, if we see anyone else with that, I guess we'll know how the Commander reacts." She then nodded. "I should get my weapons cleaned."

Liara nodded in reply. "I think I need to do the same," said Liara. "I still don't have a handle on how to clean a pistol."

Ashley shrugged. "I can run it through with you one more time if you'd like," she replied.

Liara bowed, giving a very small smile. "I'd appreciate that, Chief Williams," said Liara. "Thank you."

"Hey, anything for a fellow fighter," Ashley replied. "And please, call me Ashley."

Jodie nodded, stepping back. "I'll leave you two to it, then," she said. "Let's hope we can see each other when Shepard is a little less... angry."

"Yeah," Ashley agreed. "Let's hope."

And with this, Ashley and Liara walked over to the table on which the weapons were cleaned. Jodie herself walked over to the elevator, seeing that Tali had vanished since the conversation had continued. She looked up, wondering at whether Tali had made it up to the Commander's quarters or not as she brought her hands up in front of her. She stepped towards the elevator, pressing the call button and waiting for it to come.

 _Well, Aiden, this whole Cerberus issue could be key to figuring out what Shepard really is,_  she thought.  _You think you can eavesdrop on Tali and Shepard when they talk? Let me know if they say anything..._ interesting _, right?_

Aiden clicked in the affirmative. Jodie nodded, and waited for the elevator to come down to her level.

* * *

And it was thus that Jodie was brought over to the mess hall. She had sat there for a while, nursing an energy bar and looking over at the sleeper pods. She held her breath, waiting for Aiden to say anything at all.

She knew for certain that Tali was in there, but Aiden was remaining silent. This worried her for a lot of reasons: Aiden was not usually so quiet when eavesdropping on others. She assumed that Aiden was afraid Jodie's conversation would distract him from getting important details, but it did not make Jodie any less unnerved to hear nothing from Aiden. That feeling was only amplified by the silence around her. The mess hall was certainly not empty, but it was unusually quiet. Jodie guessed it had something to do with Shepard's tantrum on his way to his quarters.

So Jodie sat back, turning to glance over at the entrance to Shepard's quarters.

She had turned her head just in time to witness Tali exiting the captain's quarters. She perked up, looking at the quarian as she exited. Tali paused as she left the quarters, glancing back in the doors as they closed. She held this for a few seconds, before coming to sit right at the mess hall. She paused for a few seconds, Jodie sitting directly across from her. The human leaned forward, looking at Tali as she glanced down at the table in worry.

Jodie brought her hand forward, touching Tali's wrist. "So what's wrong?" she asked.

"The Commander..." Tali shook her head. "I don't know, Jodie. There is so much baggage he has in his past. And now I have some idea..." She shook her head. "According to him, Cerberus took his whole family away from him. Everyone he ever loved..."

Jodie nodded grimly, looking back at the Commander's quarters. "I see..." she said. "Did he tell you why?"

"No," said Tali, shaking her head. "And that's the part that troubles me."

Jodie's eyebrows rose, and she looked at Tali in surprise. "Why?" she asked.

"I... I don't know," said Tali. "But there is more to this than he is telling me. I just... I can feel it. Maybe..." She shook her head, putting her hand on her glass. " _Keelah_ , why? Does he not trust me enough?"

"I don't think he does," said Jodie.

"Maybe, but perhaps it's also too painful..." said Tali. "I mean... the things he said... he implied Cerberus took away much more than that as well." She shook her head. "Maybe that is why he did not say everything. I don't know..." She sighed. " _Keelah_ , I don't know what to do. This is so utterly unlike John. I don't..."

Jodie sighed. "I don't know either," she said, looking back at the entrance to the Commander's quarters. "You did tell him he could trust you, right?"

"I did, but he was unfazed by that," she said. "I don't know if it's something I did, or if it's something he's afraid of, or if he's afraid I'll push him away..." She shook her head. "I'm sorry I'm saying all this to you. I must sound so-"

"Believe me, you don't sound ridiculous to me at all..." Jodie replied, leaning forward. "In fact... I'd say not to trust him."

Tali tilted her head to the side. "Why do you say that?" she asked.

"I have this  _feeling_ ," she said, glancing at Shepard's quarters. "I feel like there are other things he's hiding from us. Like he's done something that he doesn't want us to know about. Or something like that." She paused, before looking back at Tali. "Actually, it's more than just a feeling."

"It's a hunch?" Tali asked.

"I... You  _could_ say that," Jodie replied. "I don't trust him with whatever happened with Cerberus."

Tali nodded. "I see..." she said. "I still trust him, though. He's my friend, Jodie. I have to stand by his side, no matter what. He needs me. And when he's ready to tell me, he'll tell me."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," said Jodie. "If he's keeping  _that_ a secret..." She then paused, leaning forward. "Look, Tali, I..." She paused, glancing back at the door as chills began to rocket up and down her arms. "I  _may_ have discovered something about Shepard."

Jodie watched as the quarian leaned forward, her eyes narrowed in a frown. "Jodie, have you been in his quarters?" she asked, her voice suddenly steely.

"N-no!" Jodie said, leaping back slightly. "I swear, I haven't!"

But Tali crossed her arms. "Then how did you discover something about the Commander I have yet to discover?" she asked.

"I..." She glanced around. "It's a hard story to believe, Tali, but I did." She then looked back at the entrance, leaning close to Tali. "And I think you need to know before you go any further with this that Shepard... He may be more vindictive than you might believe. He was like this with the batarians too, and Balak..." She shook her head. "I snuck into the brig earlier."

"What?" Tali asked. "Why?"

"I don't know, but... I found a bloodstain on the cell Balak was in," said Jodie. "Tali, he... He brutalized a prison down there, because I can tell you with certainty it wasn't Shepard's blood."

Tali shrunk back immediately, frowning as she looked at Jodie. "I don't believe you," she said. "The Commander... He may be angry now, but he would never do something like that! You must have gotten the wrong idea."

"Tali, I didn't," said Jodie. "You have to  _trust_ me here, I don't have the wrong-"

"I think you're jumping to conclusions," Tali interrupted with uncharacteristic brusqueness as she stood up. She then shook her head. "Look, I have to be in engineering. Engineer Adams is wondering why I'm taking so long to come down. This is... This is  _very_ personal for John, Jodie. And he needs someone he can trust to look after him. If you want to talk to me about him, then you can do it some other time. He's not a bad man, Jodie, and I think you're taking whatever you've seen too far. There may be something he won't tell me, but I'm standing by him until he does. He needs support, not accusations." She then stood up. "I should go."

She then walked past Jodie to the elevator. However, as she passed, Jodie lunged forward, grabbing Tali's wrist. Jodie looked up at the quarian hopefully, her expression tense.

"Tali, just..." She glanced down at the ground. "Just promise me one thing. Please."

Tali stood still, and Jodie could tell that Tali was  _leering_ at her through the glass of the face mask. "What is it?" asked Tali.

"Just..." And Jodie paused, glancing down at the floor. Aiden clicked nervously, Jodie closing her eyes as she released Tali's wrist. "I... There's also more to me that you don't know. There's more that I haven't told most of the crew." She then shook her head, looking back up at Tali with a pleading expression. "Please. Talk to me first," she said. "Talk to me before you talk to Shepard again. Trust me. Please."

Tali's leer lessened somewhat, as Jodie could see from the fact that Tali's eyes were not coming across as lines from where she sat. Tali then nodded. "All right," she said. "And I'm sorry. I should not have taken that tone."

"It's fine," said Jodie. "Just... please. That's all I ask."

"All right," said Tali. She then turned to Jodie, bowing. "I will talk to you about that first, if it makes you feel better."

Jodie smiled. "Thank you," she said. "I... I look forward to that conversation."

Tali nodded, and then she walked towards the elevator. Jodie turned away, putting a hand on her temple. Her eyes widened as she thought more and more about Tali's reaction. She heard the elevator doors open and close, but Jodie's mind was already racing by then.

 _That... that is so unlike her..._  she thought, thinking to Tali's tone before she began walking to the elevator.  _It... I can't even describe it... It's like she's become a slightly new person..._  After a few seconds, she looked up, her worried expression intensifying as she did so.  _Aiden, what do you think it is?_

Aiden gurgled rapidly, before chirping at least five times in quick succession. Jodie looked up, blinking as Aiden said this.  _He did?_  she asked.  _I... I guess we'll have to wait and see then. I just hope Tali does as she says she will..._

Jodie leaned forward, cupping her head in her hands as she let out a very unnerved sigh. She rubbed her face, closing her eyes and trying to calm her racing heartbeat as she thought more on how Tali had spoken to her.

* * *

It was so that, a couple days later, Jodie found some relief when Shepard, Tali, and Garrus had gone on a ground mission by themselves. Shepard eschewed the fourth squadmate that time, and Jodie perhaps knew why: this was a mission which required some amount of stealth. Jodie hoped that Tali would be available to talk to her afterwards.

Thus, she sat right in the hangar bay, cleaning out her pistol. Her hands were methodical as she worked over the weapon, though occasionally Aiden did have to step in on the occasions that Jodie's hands were shaking. Nevertheless, Jodie found herself able to concentrate on something, which helped her concentrate. Jodie thought about talking to Kalo a little about this situation, but she feared that Shepard might have a way to discover that communications had been made about his secret, and the more she thought of that, the more uncomfortable she became.

And so, it was off to cleaning her weapon out.

She sighed, grabbing the cloth that she normally used to clean off the block that her weapon chipped mass accelerator rounds off.

"You've been doing that a lot lately."

Jodie grabbed the cloth, and then looked up to see Wrex standing there. His arms were crossed as he looked down at Jodie, and even though she knew Wrex to be very personable she still found herself shrinking under Wrex's gaze.

Jodie sighed, wiping the block down. "I know," she said. "Helps me to concentrate a little."

"Hm," said Wrex. "I'll bet something big is on your mind."

Jodie paused, looking up at the large krogan and remaining silent. "I..." She placed the block down and sat back against the lockers. "I guess you're right about that." She then glanced around the hangar bay, looking to the spot that was unoccupied by the Mako, seeing that the hangar bay was actually pretty empty for once. She then sighed, looking up at the krogan. "There's a lot going on in my mind, and... well, some of it is something I'd rather not have the rest of the Normandy's crew find out, you know?"

"Well, that's good for me, then," Wrex leaned against the lockers, turning to Jodie. "I knew there was something strange about you."

Jodie blinked in surprise, looking at Wrex. "What?" she asked.

"I get this hunch around you," said Wrex. "You're withdrawn in some ways, and I've always got the feeling you had something you were reluctant to tell us."

Jodie nodded. "I see," she replied, bowing her head. She then nodded, glancing around the hangar bay once again to make sure nobody else was eavesdropping. "Well, there...  _is_ something about me that... well, since you can probably see it, I guess I should tell you know?"

"Yes," said Wrex. "That would be a good idea. Does anyone else know?"

Jodie shook her head. "Actually, Kaidan and Ashley know," she replied. "I told them just before you ran into us on Feros. But there's something...  _slightly_ bigger I've got in my head right now, and I guess I do need to explain about the original thing I'm reluctant to talk about first." She then looked over at the disassembled weapon. "And actually, I guess I can just explain here with this." She indicated the disassembled pistol in front of her."

Wrex looked at the pistol. "What's that going to explain?" he asked.

Jodie shook her head. "Well..." She then looked up at the space Aiden might have inhabited. "Aiden, you mind if you can put this weapon back together?"

Wrex frowned. "Aiden?" he asked. "I didn't think you were the type to be deaf, runt."

"I wasn't talking to you," Jodie replied, looking back at the gun. "You can't actually see him, but... there's a third person in this room."

Wrex's frown deepened, and he pushed off the lockers. "Jodie?" he asked. "What are you-?"

And then, Jodie's pistol began to reassemble itself. Jodie simply sat back, watching it happen in front of the krogan. Wrex himself looked on in surprise as he watched the gun put itself together again with no effort from Jodie. The gun assembled itself in a few seconds, and before long the gun levitated up to Jodie's face, the handle out to Jodie. Jodie blinked, taking it in her hand and nodding up at Aiden.

"Hm," said Wrex. "That's a clever magic trick, but-"

"It's not a magic trick," Jodie replied, setting the pistol down and pulling the cloth from the ground. She then paused, looking over at Wrex as she stood up. "It's real." She shook her head, looking at the krogan. "For as long as I can remember, I've been...  _attached_ to this thing. He's called Aiden. And... Well..." She then looked over at Wrex, watching his face as a frown took form. She paused, looking at him for a few seconds before Aiden clicked at her. "He can do a lot of things."

"And you expect me to believe that," Wrex said, his voice flat and unchanging.

"Yes," said Jodie. She looked right at Wrex. "It's true, trust me."

The krogan looked down at the ground. "Hmph. That sounds stupid."

"Ask Ashley," Jodie replied. "She saw most of what Aiden could do while we were on Feros." She nodded, grabbing her elbow. "I guess that's one other person. I'd actually meant to tell Liara next..."

"Hmph." Wrex turned, frowning. "I don't know if I believe that. And if I do, I don't know if I trust you by my side."

"Aiden won't be a problem, not to you," said Jodie. She then looked up. "Right?"

Aiden then grabbed the pistol out of Jodie's hand, before harmlessly placing it down on the ground. He then pointed it away from both Jodie and Wrex, before the pistol clattered, the object completely still. Wrex narrowed his eyes at Jodie, and Jodie could feel chills rushing up her spine.

However, before Wrex could reply, they were both startled by the sounding off of warning klaxons. They both turned to the hangar bay's door, watching as it opened.

Jodie glanced back at Wrex. "Well, I guess he's back," she said. "Can we talk about this later? I'd rather not have the commander find out until he needs to."

Wrex frowned. "Why?" he asked.

"It's a very long story," she replied. "I can tell you later."

Wrex then turned his attention to the hangar bay doors as they opened. "Well, if it's a long story, I guess you can," he said. "Just don't use that to avoid telling me."

"Believe me, I-"

And then, Jodie was startled by the sound of the Mako screeching into place. They both looked at the Mako, seeing it parked very haphazardly. Before the doors had even gotten a chance to close, Jodie heard the tank door open, and then she saw a frantic Garrus Vakarian run out, holding an unconscious Shepard in his arms.

Wrex and Jodie both looked at each other, Jodie's eyes widening somewhat. They glanced at each other for a single second before Jodie ran over to Garrus, Wrex not far behind. Jodie looked down at the unconscious commander, before seeing the terrified turian in front of them.

"Tali's still in the Mako!" said Garrus. "She got very seriously injured, and Shepard..." Garrus shook his head. "I don't know what the hell happened, but he just went  _berserk_ , before collapsing on me!"

Wrex nodded. "I'll get Tali," he said.

"Yeah," said Jodie as Wrex ran right past her. "Yeah, I'll get the elevator."

And with this, Jodie ran over, slamming her hand on the call button. As soon as she turned around, she saw Wrex pull Tali out of the Mako. Her eyebrows arched up in alarm, looking at the blood that poured out of various gunshot wounds that the quarian had obviously sustained. Aiden trilled in alarm upon seeing this, Jodie herself letting out a loud gasp of shock.

"Holy shit!" she said, rushing over to Wrex's side. "That's... Oh my God!"

"Don't worry about her," said Garrus. "I already applied some medigel. I just need to get her to the med bay for the immunoboosting!"

"I'll say!" said Jodie, her voice shocked. She looked over at Wrex as the door to engineering opened and some of the engineers peered out at the group assembled by the elevator. "Get her to safety!"

"Of course," said Wrex, his expression determined.

Not a second too soon, the elevator doors opened, and the group piled into the elevator, Jodie repeatedly slamming her hand on the call button. Finally, the elevator doors closed, Jodie biting on her lower lip to keep from screaming at the doors to close faster. She then looked to Garrus and Wrex as the elevator rode up to the crew deck, Jodie looking away as the elevator inched up.

Wrex and Garrus bolted out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened, Jodie slowly stepping out as they rounded the corner and ran into the med bay. The crew that had been lounging about doing nothing stood up, perturbed by the sudden disturbance. Jodie looked around at the rest of the crew, seeing Kaidan out at the mess hall. The Lieutenant looked on, abruptly standing up as Garrus and Wrex vanished into the med bay.

Kaidan turned to Jodie. "What happened out there?" he asked.

"I don't know," said Jodie. "Garrus just came in on the Mako shouting about how we needed to get him up here immediately..."

Kaidan nodded. "I need you to stay here, Jodie. Tell Dr. Chakwas to contact me as soon as Shepard's in stable condition," he instructed.

Jodie nodded. "Yes, Kaidan," Jodie replied, taking a seat in the mess hall.

As soon as she did this, the door to the med bay was opened, and Garrus, Wrex, and Liara had all been pushed out of the med bay. The group then turned towards the elevator, Liara staying behind as Kaidan began asking Garrus a barrage of questions. Of course, the sounds of their conversation were cut off by the closing of the elevator doors, leaving Jodie and Liara standing there in silence.

Liara then turned to Jodie. "What happened?" she asked.

Jodie shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "But I have a feeling it was something that was  _not_ good at all..."

* * *

Jodie spent the next hour or so sitting at the mess hall. This time, she kept her attention on the med bay doors. She found herself fiddling around on her omni-tool, attempting to make sense of everything around her. Either way, the minutes stretched on as if they were hours, and Jodie found herself getting progressively more and more agonized over whether Tali would survive or not. Even despite Garrus' initial worries, she knew there was much more to Tali's safety than just making sure she would not bleed out. She hoped that Aiden would do whatever he could: even if it meant Dr. Chakwas would find out, Jodie would have preferred to know Aiden had acted to save Tali than to have him do nothing.

No one had exited the med bay in all that time. Jodie found herself shifting uncomfortably at this news. Not even Dr. Chakwas seemed willing to leave. Jodie could not say she blamed her: after all, the commander had somehow gotten injured. But even this seemed strange to Jodie: even Dr. Chakwas would have needed to step outside upon seeing that her patients were in stable condition.

Jodie checked the time on her omni-tool. It had been around three hours since Shepard had initially been deposited in the med bay. Jodie's eyebrows shot up in surprise, wondering how that amount of time had passed since she had last seen Shepard. She shook her head, brushing some hair out of her face as she pondered on it.

 _Well, I might as well do something with this time_ , she thought. And thus, she opened her omnitool's email client and started writing another message to Kalo'Veera.

It was then that she heard the elevator doors open behind her. In strutted Garrus, a slightly angry scowl forming on his face. Jodie frowned, looking at the door as it closed behind him. She sighed, looking up to where she assumed Aiden was. She heard Aiden remain silent, and Jodie took it as a good sign as she turned her attention back to her omni-tool. Her movements were measured this time, and then Jodie found herself typing an email rather slowly.

She did not really pay attention to the words she was saying, though. All of her attention was focused on the med bay doors just beyond where she sat. Thoughts raced through her mind, and she wondered what had happened down below for any of this to be happening.

She then shook her head, closing the omnitool and depositing her head into her palms.  _Dammit, that's the eighth time today,_  she thought to herself. She sighed, one of her hands falling onto the table. Her fingers then rapped against it, and she gave a heavy sigh.

And then, a minute later, Jodie heard the med bay doors open. Garrus trotted out, Jodie noticing that his gait seemed stiff and almost too controlled. Jodie frowned at this, before she found herself standing up. She then looked at Garrus, watching as he shuffled straight for the elevator.

It was then that she heard footsteps from behind her. Jodie turned, seeing Dr. Chakwas stepping out of the med bay with a relieved expression on her face. Almost instantly, Jodie felt herself calm down, her heart slowing back to a normal pulse as she stepped towards the doctor. As Jodie did this, the door closed behind the doctor, and Jodie thought she could see the door panel turn red.

"Is everything okay in there?" Jodie asked.

"Yes," said Dr. Chakwas. "They're both awake and alert right now."

Jodie nodded. "I see," she said. "Could you tell Kaidan? He asked me to let you know he needed to know when Shepard was awake."

Dr. Chakwas nodded. "He would be up by the cockpit, right?" she asked. "I'll seek him out there."

"Of course," said Jodie. "Can I see Tali now?"

"Shepard and Tali have requested some time alone," the doctor replied. "You can talk to her after they're both out, though."

Jodie's heart skipped a beat as she heard this. "I... I see," she said, gulping to swallow down the sudden feeling of dread she felt. "Very well then. I'll just... talk to her later, then."

The doctor nodded. "I'll go see the LT, then," said Dr. Chakwas. "If you see them get out within the next six hours, put them back in there. Doctor's orders."

And with this, Dr. Chakwas walked back towards the elevators. Jodie's breath came a little shorter as soon as she was alone.

She looked at the med bay once, before she opened her omnitool. She then opened it straight to the picture maker Aiden had taken such a liking to. While she did this, she walked straight towards her sleeping pad, stepping in there and closing the pod's glass cover after her. She then looked over, her breath coming in short bursts.

"Aiden, you saw what happened in there, right?" she asked. "I need you to tell me  _everything_ you saw." She then pointed at the omnitool. "Go wild. I've got a terrible feeling about this..."

Aiden set off a series of clicks, the clicks eventually becoming so numerous that they formed a wall of sound that dissipated as quickly as it began. Jodie then looked back at her omni-tool, her free hand clenching into a fist as she braced for what was to come.

Jodie flinched as her omnitool arm jolted. She then looked over at the image of Tali sitting up in a berth, seeing all the lines that looked like the drawings of a ten year old. However, Jodie noticed that, even with the somewhat bad line art, there was a key component missing: Aiden had not drawn her face mask for some reason. Thus, Jodie saw a humanoid face sitting up, looking at Dr. Chakwas.

Jodie looked up at Aiden, frowning. "Wait," she said. "Aiden, you forgot the mask."

In response, Aiden clicked at a very high pitch a few times. Jodie took a deep breath in, looking up at Aiden. "You mean... she had the mask off?"

Jodie felt her arm jolt almost immediately, and she looked down at the reply Aiden had scribbled down.

" _AND SHE IS STILL ALIVE_ "

Jodie's breath hitched, and she brought her free hand over to her throat.  _My God..._  she thought.  _What did... what did Shepard_ do  _to her down there? And..._?

Before she could say much else, Jodie's arm vibrated again, and Jodie noticed that the scroll bar on the right of the image creator had shrunk a little. She then brought her hand forward, scrolling down the canvas to find a new image: this time, it was an image of Shepard and Tali locked in an intimate embrace. The line-art gave it a kind of odd charm, but Jodie felt none of that, instead only feeling a great sense of dread.

"No..." She shook her head, looking up at Aiden. "Aiden, we have to talk to her. And I mean we. I don't know what it is, but-"

And then her arm twitched again. When she looked down, she saw the scroll bar had shrunk further. With a shaking hand, Jodie scrolled down.

The image she saw made her heart freeze. She saw a picture of Shepard and Tali standing apart, the two of them looking right at each other. However, Jodie saw this strange red line travelling between Shepard and Tali. However, this red was not as bright crimson as the red Jodie had seen when she did the thing with the red eyes. Rather, it was a much duller red, almost a purple that moved between them, and the way Aiden drew it it seemed to be more soothing. Jodie looked at this, seeing that Aiden had also drawn a similar line to Dr. Chakwas and Garrus.

And it was then that her breath hitched. With shaking hands, Jodie closed her omni-tool, feeling a battalion of shivers run down her spine. She closed her eyes, gritting her teeth as she looked up at Aiden.

"Do... do you think he did something to her mind too?" she asked.

Aiden clicked. Upon hearing this, Jodie nodded, looking up at where she assumed the entity was. She sat there for a few seconds, feeling her throat constrict. She rubbed her face once, twice, and even then she still felt the hairs on her arms standing on end. She shivered, closing her eyes and taking long breaths to steady her nerves. She was glad for the isolation the sleeper pod provided: Jodie was not sure she would have kept her composure in public.

She then exhaled, opening her eyes as she glanced at the panel. She then took a few calming breaths, rubbing her shoulder and sighing.

"This is... My God, Aiden..." She shook her head, looking down at her feet. "Dammit..."

She shook her head, looking up at the ceiling of the deck. She sighed, closing her eyes. She then curled into herself, her eyes squeezed shut and her hands curling into fists as she remained in this position for some time.

* * *

She did eventually leave the comfort of her sleeping pod. When she did this, she sauntered back to the mess hall. She wanted to eat an energy bar, but she did not feel any amount of hunger. The thoughts racing through her mind were too numerous to allow her to take notice of any hunger, and Jodie found herself greatly alarmed by that small little fact. Thus, she sat there, unable to think of anything to eat.

It was a little while after she had first sat at the mess hall that she saw the med bay doors open. Out stepped Tali, this time with her helmet on. Jodie's breath hitched as soon as Tali turned to her. The quarian walked right up to her, though Jodie sensed that there was a lack of malice behind the action even with how fast Tali was moving. After a few seconds, Tali sat next to Jodie.

"Hey," Tali began. "Are you all right?"

Jodie nodded. "I'm... I'm fine," she said, resisting the urge to grit her teeth. "What happened down there?"

"I got severely injured, and Shepard saved me," said Tali. Tali then put a hand on her shoulder. "Look, I... I don't think you have anything to worry about from Shepard. He's a good man, Jodie."

Jodie frowned, looking at Tali. "So he finally told you his past, hm?" Jodie asked.

"Yes," Tali replied, taking her hand off of Jodie's shoulder. "It... It's long and painful, Jodie. I promised I wouldn't tell, but even if I hadn't it's very personal for him and it would be best if I didn't."

Jodie nodded, trying to fight back the tears. "I see..." she said. "I'll... I'll keep that in mind."

Jodie could sense that Tali smiled under her helmet, though this thought only horrified Jodie more. "Good," said Tali. She then stood up. "I have to report to engineering. I'll see you around, Jodie."

And with this, Tali left. Jodie's hand clenched into a fist, and she heard Tali's footsteps get further away behind her. She then closed her eyes, breathing in and out as she fought to keep her composure down. As soon as she heard the elevator doors open and close behind her, Jodie could only put her head in her hands, remaining in this position for some time.

She was thus caught by surprise when she heard someone shuffle into the seat next to her.

"Hey Jodie. Is everything all right?"

Jodie jumped a little, turning to her left to see that Kaidan had taken a seat next to her. Jodie held her position for a few seconds, before sighing in relief. "Jesus, don't startle me like that," she said. She shook her head. "Sorry. I've been a little distracted."

"A little looks like an understatement," Kaidan replied. He then placed a hand on Jodie's shoulder, and she could feel herself being turned towards him. "Wrex mentioned you might've had something on your mind."

Jodie blinked, and then glanced down to the side. "So Wrex told you that he knows, huh?"

"Yeah, he did," said Kaidan. "But I don't think this is about that. What's going on with you?"

Jodie glanced at themed bay doors, before looking around the area she was in. "I..." She sighed, looking at Kaidan. "It's about Shepard." As soon as she knew nobody else would be eavesdropping on the two of them, she turned to Kaidan. "Aiden showed me some...  _things_ about him. And after seeing those things, I don't know if I can trust the commander."

Kaidan frowned. "Why?" he asked.

"Because if they're true--and I know Aiden wouldn't lie about something like this--, then it means that there's something Shepard is hiding from us, and I still don't know what that something is..."

And with this, Jodie leaned forward, and told Kaidan about everything Aiden had shown her thus far.


	17. Chapter 16

 

"And why didn't you mention this before?"

"I didn't want to mention this until I had more evidence as to what was going on. I've seen all this, but I don't know what any of it could mean. And until I know that... Well, it would be pointless to look into it, wouldn't it?"

"I guess so. But are you even sure Aiden saw all that? I find it hard to believe he did."

"He wouldn't lie to me about that, Kaidan. The problem is... how else am I supposed to figure out what's going on?"

Kaidan sighed, his hand patting Jodie's shoulder. Jodie looked at the lieutenant with a perturbed look, before her gaze turned to the table. Kaidan squeezed Jodie's shoulder lightly, before pulling his hand away.

"Well..." Kaidan glanced to the side. "I don't know if there is much investigating you could do in this case."

"I don't think so either," said Jodie. "I can't go into Shepard's quarters because I have a feeling he'll know when I do, and Aiden isn't exactly  _subtle_ whenever he messes with technology." She sighed. "But I have to figure out something to do. I can't just act on only things Aiden tells me, Kaidan. Even  _I_ don't know the full story of what's going on, and until I have some idea of what that story is..."

Kaidan nodded. "Well, do what you think is right," he said. "But I can't help you in this."

Jodie nodded. "I know you can't," she said. "Especially not if you want to stay in the Alliance." She then shook her head. "And even if you could, I couldn't ask that of you. I'd just be dragging you into my affairs, and I can't do that to you, or to anyone else on the ship."

"That doesn't mean I wouldn't support you anyway," Kaidan replied. "But without evidence, there's not much I can do to help you. So I'm sorry."

"Don't be," said Jodie, giving Kaidan a weak smile. "Just listening was enough. Thanks for that."

Kaidan shrugged. "Any time," he said. He then looked over the mess hall. "You don't seem like you've eaten."

"That's because I haven't," said Jodie. She offered a small smile. "I'd be up for it if there are any energy bars left."

"I'm sure there will be," Kaidan replied. "They're not that popular, after all."

Jodie shrugged. "I imagined so," she commented. She shook her head as she stood up. "Most days, I feel like I'm the only one eating them!"

"I imagine you probably are," said Kaidan. He then smiled, a genuine smile this time. "But hey, that's something not entirely bad, right?"

Jodie nodded. "I guess so," she said. She nodded, looking back at Kaidan. She then remained silent as they walked over to where they would get the food. "You know... I'm wondering when we'll get back to fighting Saren."

"I do too," said Kaidan as he grabbed a tray from underneath the serving area. "I get the feeling we'll have something, soon, though."

"I hope so," she said. "And I'm actually looking forward to going after Saren again. I mean... we're going after him, and with that we'll be at least a little closer to saving the galaxy." She shrugged, giving a bright smile to Kaidan. "And when we're doing that, what's the worst that could happen?"

* * *

"We have a new lead!"

Jodie felt the atmosphere inside the briefing room instantly lift, feeling a general feeling of good will from everyone inside the room. She leaned forward on her chair, looking at the rest of the ground team as they sat around.

"Great!" said Garrus as he leaned forward. "Now where are we going?"

"We're going to Virmire," said Shepard. He then opened his omni-tool, the planet coming to view as he spoke. "It's a tropical planet out in the Attican Traverse. Some STG units went there recently. The Council received a garbled transmission from Virmire a short while ago. The Council believes we may have found a new lead on Saren, from what they could make out of the transmission."

"Virmire?" said Wrex as he leaned forward.

Shepard nodded. "I still don't know what's going on there," he replied. He then adopted a goofy smile, tilting his head. "But hey, not that I can blame him: at least now we know how he got the geth on his side."

Jodie facepalmed, shaking her head. "They're robots," Jodie replied, looking up at the Commander. "I doubt they'd realize why people like the sun."

"Well, you never know," said Shepard. "Sometimes robots dream an electric sleep, you know?" He then leaned forward, looking at everyone else. "We're headed out to Virmire right now. We should be there in about twenty minutes."

Tali nodded. "I assume we're going in blind," she replied.

"Unfortunately, we are," said Shepard. "Regardless, I want all of you to suit up. Joker will give us updates as we get closer to the site the STG team transmitted from."

"All of us?" asked Ashley.

"Yes, all of us," said Shepard. He then turned to Jodie. "Even you, Ms. Holmes. We don't know what we'll find in there."

Jodie nodded. "I guess we'll see, Commander," she said. She then looked at the others. "I'll be ready when you are."

"Of course," Ashley nodded. She then turned her attention back to the commander, looking over. "Should we expect this to go as any other mission does?"

Shepard shook his head, holding his hands behind his back. "If there's one thing that life has taught me, it's that you  _never_ expect the best," he replied. "Be cautious down there. I have a feeling this mission is going to be bigger than any of us can know right now." He then brought his hands back from behind his back, looking at everyone. "For now, you're dismissed. I expect you to be ready to go by the time we get to Virmire."

"Yes sir!" the ground team chimed in.

Jodie joined right in, feeling ready for the mission for the first time in what felt like a while. And for the first time in a few days, her heart was beating not in fear, but in anticipation. She could not wait to get onto the field. Sure, she realized Shepard might take another person with him, but she knew that at least she would get off the ship at some place that was not the Citadel.

And for that, Jodie was thankful.

* * *

As soon as the group was suited up, Jodie found herself waiting in the hangar bay with Ashley, Wrex, and Liara. Shepard had taken Tali, Garrus, and Kaidan down to Virmire with him, leaving the rest to hang around the hangar bay. Liara stood off to one side, making small talk with the requisitions officer. Jodie found herself assembling her assault rifle again, making sure to do it by hand this time.

"You've been doing that a lot lately," Ashley replied from where she stood behind Jodie. "Something on your mind?"

"Maybe," she said. "But I talked to Kaidan about it. I think I'll be okay."

"Good to hear." Wrex leaned forward, looking down at Jodie from where he leaned against the lockers. "We can't kill Saren if you've got your head stuck around that weird ghost thing you've got."

Ashley looked over at Wrex in surprise, before looking down at Jodie. "I thought you were going to tell Liara next," she said.

Jodie shrugged. "Circumstances changed," she replied. "Wrex noticed I'd been thinking a lot, so... I thought I'd tell him next."

"Hard to believe," said Wrex. "I still don't believe this thing exists."

"Trust me, you didn't see the stuff I did," said Ashley. "But I saw the stuff I did. I know that Aiden is real."

"Says the one who's talked about an invisible man in the sky," Wrex noted as he crossed his arms. He shook his head, looking up. "Still, I guess I've heard dumber things."

"And you did see him put the pistol back together," said Jodie.

The krogan shrugged. "That too," he replied. "Though it'll take more than an elaborate magic trick to convince me."

Ashley simply shook her head, giving a small smile. "I don't think possessing salarians that are trying to kill you counts as a magic trick," she replied.

Wrex's eyes widened for a split second, and then he looked down at people. "It can do that?" he asked.

"And quite a bit more," said Jodie. "Just... don't say anything to anyone else. I'd prefer to talk to people about it on  _my_ terms, especially now."

"Hmph." Wrex snorted. "As I said last time, he better not get in the way of killing Saren."

Jodie then heard the warning klaxons go off, standing up as she placed her assembled assault rifle on her back. "You won't have to worry about that," Jodie replied, looking out as the door opened to a beach that reminded Jodie a bit too much of a postcard picture of Miami. Down there, the three of them saw a bunch of salarians in combat armor pausing to look at the Normandy as it hovered above them. Jodie nodded, looking back at Ashley and Wrex.

"Well, here we are." The group turned to Liara as she approached, the group of them watching as the Normandy got closer to the ground. After a short while, the group felt the Normandy give a very minor jolt, and then the end of the hangar bay doors had leveled into a ramp that would take them to the beach they had landed next to. "Looks like a good vacation spot."

"Well, we're not here to soak in the sunshine," said Ashley. She then nodded. "Come on. Let's find out what's been going on here."

With this, the four of them stepped off of the Normandy, Jodie looking down as soon as she stepped on the sand. They then walked forward, and were approached by a green-hued salarian who wore white combat armor. Jodie looked to the others, and then they approached him as he walked over to them. The salarian eyed the Normandy suspiciously, looking up at the ship before turning to the group that approached him.

"Where's your commanding officer?" the salarian demanded, Jodie finding it difficult to read his expression.

"He should be just coming in on the Mako in a few minutes," said Ashley. "Why?"

The salarian frowned, crossing his arms. "I don't really see the need to have touched down," he replied. "Comms are down, it is true, but the ship does not need to touch down to prepare an orbital bombardment."

Jodie frowned, looking at the others in confusion. "Orbital bombardment?" she asked. "Is the Normandy even equipped for something like that?"

"I doubt it," said Liara.

"Well, it's no matter," said the salarian. "I imagine the fleet you have behind you will be sufficient to do what we must."

The group then paused, looking right at the salarian in surprise. They then looked at each other, before Wrex then stepped forward.

"Fleet?" Wrex asked. "Sorry, but we're all the back-up you're going to get."

The salarian's eyes widened for a split second. After that passed, he squinted, leaning towards everyone there. "What do you mean?" the salarian asked. "I requested for an entire fleet to bomb this place to oblivion!"

"Your transmission was broken up." The group then turned to see Shepard approaching them, Tali, Garrus, and Kaidan all following behind the commander. "Unfortunately, the part where you asked for a fleet was probably lost in the static."

The salarian's eyes darkened, and he looked at the commander with a faint glare for a few seconds. He then shook his head, a frown settling on his face. "Well, this took a turn for the worse," he said.

"It seems like it," said Shepard. He then looked over. "Should we contact the Council?"

"No," said the salarian. "Your disturbance will bring them to us, and we can't delay in destroying this base. I've already held it off long enough waiting for reinforcements, we'll have to work with what we have now. I'll need some time to formulate a plan." He then looked at the others. "Give me a minute or two, Commander. Come see me at precisely that time. I'll have started to work out a plan by then."

With this, the salarian turned away, casting a wary look at Wrex. As soon as he did this, the Commander looked over at the rest of his ground team.

"Good," Shepard said. "He  _had_ requested a Fleet to come down on this place. I was beginning to think he hadn't."

"Why do you say that?" asked Liara as she leaned forward.

"I have a feeling this may require something drastic," said Shepard. "But then, you didn't see the kind of geth we were dealing with. The geth were swarming this place."

"They were," Kaidan stepped forward. "It's a miracle the salarians carved something like this out of all those geth."

"Well, they are STG," Ashley pointed out as she stepped forward. "It wouldn't surprise me if they managed to do that." She then looked around the area. "So, Commander, should we talk to the captain of this unit?"

"I think so," said Shepard. He then turned to Kaidan. "Ashley, Kaidan, you're with me. Everyone else, stand by until I call you again."

Jodie nodded. "Yes, sir," she said, bowing her head respectfully.

Ashley bowed her head, and then everyone else chorused a 'yes, sir' as Shepard walked over to where the salarian captain had wandered off. Jodie watched as they left, before turning her attention to the others.

"Well, we're here," she said. "Might as well make ourselves comfortable."

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea," said Liara. "Come. Let's go."

And with this, the remaining ground team members stepped away from the Normandy, spreading out around the beach in silence.

* * *

Jodie, of course, had wandered over to an area near the beach. She looked up, hearing Aiden chirp happily as she took a couple of steps into the water. In the distance, she heard the rolling of thunder, even seeing the copious amounts of black cloud off in the distance. Around where she was, though, the sun shone rather brightly, and this was something Aiden was quite pleased about.

 _Yeah,_  she thought in response to some of his chirping.  _It does seem like a nice place, huh?_

Aiden chirped in the affirmative, prompting Jodie to sit right there at the shoreline.

Her brows furrowed as she thought a little bit.  _Aiden... you think things will be all right here?_

Jodie was greeted by silence. Her frown only deepened, and then she found herself looking up at the sun. After an agonizing few seconds, Jodie heard Aiden click, the click soft and dim. She nodded, turning her attention to the waves that lapped at her feet. Her gaze softened just a touch as she looked at the waves, and then she brought one of her feet forward, her foot tapping the edge of the waves.

 _Still, it's nice scenery,_  Jodie replied, giving Aiden a small smile.  _And after all, we need that a little more around here, don't we?_

Aiden clicked his agreement, before Jodie heard a whoosh of sound. A short distance away, Jodie could see something splash in the water. It went by quickly enough that nobody really noticed, but Jodie saw it clear as anything else, particularly in the way that nothing seemed to act on it.

Jodie chuckled in amusement.  _Come on, Aiden, we've got people watching,_  she rebuked, though her smile remained and her eyes maintained the twinkle they had when she saw the splash appear.  _Don't want them to see you, now, do you?_

Aiden gurgled in feigned despair, which made Jodie's smile widen. She looked up, pulling her legs up to her chest as she watched the air around her.

And then, she heard someone yelling angrily. She turned to the source of the angry yelling, her happy expression vanishing as she looked on. The yelling seemed to escalate, and while Jodie could still not make out any words, she had a feeling something very serious had just happened. She turned, still keeping close to the waves as she noticed that others around the camp had started to pay attention to the noise.

And then, she watched Wrex storm away from a nearby tent, his steps throwing up copious amounts of sand as he walked straight towards the shore line. At this, Jodie pushed herself to her feet, watching the krogan stomp off towards the shore.

Jodie looked up at Aiden in confusion.  _What was...?_ She then looked out to where Wrex had stormed from, seeing Ashley, Shepard, and Kaidan stepping out. The salarian commander stepped out shortly after, and it was then that Jodie turned to the krogan, who looked out at the vast sea before them. Jodie could see his fists still clenched in rage, and that the krogan's gaze retained a hint of anger.

Jodie hesitantly looked at the krogan, before glancing back at Shepard and the others. She then turned her attention back to Wrex, before sighing and looking up at Aiden.  _I guess you don't know what happened._

Aiden clicked once, and Jodie nodded.  _Hm..._ she thought.  _Maybe we should talk to him, see what's bothering him_.

She then walked over, seeing Ashley move over for a second. As she approached the large krogan, Jodie swallowed a lump in her throat, her footsteps splashing in the water as she approached. "Wrex?" she asked, looking back at the tent. "Wrex, did something happen?"

"Leave me alone, runt," he replied, his voice harsher than usual.

Jodie looked back at the tent, seeing that Ashley was standing off to the side as if expecting something. As her eyes wandered, she also noticed that Shepard looked as if he had been hoping to talk to Wrex, but that he had stopped at some point, watching the two of them. Jodie felt her heartbeat quicken as she then turned back to the krogan, watching the way he looked at the waves beyond the rocks.

"Something happened in there," she said. "I can sense it."

Wrex growled, turning to face Jodie. "Saren has a cure for the genophage," he said.

Jodie frowned, looking at the krogan in confusion. "Wait, what?" She then walked forward, looking at Wrex. "He has a cure...? Is that why I've heard you guys have run into krogan on occasion while fighting the geth?"

"It seems like it," said Wrex.

"Oh my God..." She glanced down at the ground. She then frowned, a thought occurring to her.  _Wait a minute..._  "He's the only one who has this cure."

"Yes," said Wrex. "And these salarians want to destroy it."

Jodie blinked, looking off to the side.  _Aiden... you don't think..._  "Wrex..." she said softly.

He then turned to Jodie. "These short sighted fools want to destroy something that will help my people," said Wrex, his voice getting more impassioned. "Help me here, Jodie. You have to make them see that we can't destroy this cure."

Jodie frowned, looking back at Ashley to see her watching the confrontation intently. Jodie then turned back to Wrex, her breath coming a little faster. "Before I can think about doing that, Wrex, there's something I have to ask you about this."

Wrex frowned. "So you're going to take the Commander's side, are you?" he asked.

"Wrex, listen to me, please," she said. "I know this cure is important for your people, but you'd really be willing to trust that Saren would do right by you?"

"Maybe," said said Wrex as he then stepped closer to Jodie. Shepard stared Jodie directly in the eyes, a gesture that Jodie had some trouble meeting at first. However, when she looked into his eyes, she found it easier: his eyes were narrowed not in fury, but in confusion: she could tell from the way that his eyes were dilated that he was conflicted about it. "I've stayed with Shepard long enough, and he thinks the cure should be destroyed, too. I've followed you here, even dealing with that damn turian with the stick up his ass. I'm not going to follow Shepard if I feel he's going to destroy that cure for the wrong reasons."

Jodie nodded. "Look, Wrex, I-"

And then, Jodie stepped back in surprise as Wrex pulled his shotgun out, aiming it right at Jodie. Her eyes widened, Aiden trilling in alarm at Wrex's action.

"I won't hesitate to turn on all of you now if it comes to that," Wrex replied. "And if you're going to take the Commander's side, then you'll go down as well."

As Aiden clicked once, Jodie shook her head, stepping back into a regular position. "And what's that going to do?" she asked. "If you turn on us now, you'll just get gunned down. Not even a krogan can stand up against  _this_ many soldiers."

"I'd rather go down fighting than destroy this genophage cure," said Wrex.

Jodie shook her head. "And nothing about this seems odd to you?" Jodie asked, looking at Wrex. "You don't think that somewhere, in Saren's twisted little mind, he  _knows_ that every krogan would jump at the chance to be given that genophage cure?" She then stepped towards Wrex, Aiden humming low. "The way it sounds to me, it sounds like Saren's trying to  _manipulate_ you into joining him. Once you have that cure, he sounds like the kind of man who'd use you as his puppets."

She shook her head, glancing at Ashley. The gunnery chief stood there, watching the confrontation in silence, but looking on at Jodie proudly. "I've been in that position before, Wrex," Jodie replied. "Ashley is the only one that knows about it, but I've been used to kill people my employers didn't like before." She then turned her attention to Wrex. "And as someone who knows what it's like to be used to do someone else's dirty work, I think you'd be making a mistake if you sided with Saren. I don't think you want your people to be turned into puppets. I'm right about that, right?"

Wrex paused, the air thick with tension as Wrex sized Jodie. Jodie stared at the shotgun barrel, feeling nervous not that Wrex would shoot, but at what Wrex's shot would mean. She had not interacted with the krogan very much, but even so she still felt a responsibility to the krogan that outweighed all else. After all, they were comerades, if nothing else: Jodie felt a responsibility towards Wrex in that way, one that was only compounded by the fact that she could see Shepard standing with his assault rifle at the ready in case Wrex fired the shot. And so, she watched the krogan, her muscles stiff with tension.

Finally, Wrex huffed. "Yes," he said. "We were tools for the Council, once. And to thank us for wiping out the rachni, they neutered us all. I doubt Saren would be as generous." He then stood there for a few more seconds, Jodie feeling her heartbeat speed up as she looked directly at the krogan.

He then lowered his shotgun, storing it back as he stood back up to full height. "All right, you've made your case, runt," he said. "I don't like it, but you bring up a good point." He then glanced back at Shepard. "I'll talk to him before now. He better be willing to give me Saren's head when this is all over."

Jodie let out a sigh of relief, looking up at the krogan. "Good," she said. "I'm sorry about your cure, Wrex. Maybe... Maybe if we find one in the future..."

Wrex nodded grimly, turning back to Shepard. "Let's hope there is one," he said darkly, his brows furrowed in sorrow.

He then walked back towards Shepard, his gait slow and purposeful. Aiden clicked softly as Jodie watched him walk away, the young woman standing there. She took a step towards Wrex, but thought better of saying anything more. And so, she watched as Wrex walked over to the Commander, the two of them talking.

As she saw the commander nod, she heard footsteps next to her. "Glad you talked him down," said Ashley. "Shepard was going to do it himself, but then you walked up to him."

Jodie nodded, turning to face Ashley. "I was just worried," Jodie replied. "I wasn't expecting to have to do...  _that_."

"Even so, I'm glad you did," Ashley replied. "Shepard will need every friend he can get to kill Saren." She then looked at Jodie. "I guess it helps that I'm pretty sure you weren't in danger."

Jodie shook her head, the side of her lip curling up. "I wasn't," she replied. "But at the same time, he would've been gunned down if he had turned. I didn't want that."

"Fair enough," Ashley replied. She then looked over to the Commander. "I should get over there. The Commander of these STG guys said he might need to talk to us before we set off."

"So he has a plan," said Jodie.

"Pretty sure he does," Ashley replied. "Only thing left is to see how successful it is."

* * *

Jodie had walked over to a quiet part after speaking with Wrex. She found herself looking out at the area around them again, exhaling deeply as she looked out around them. Her mind was once again buzzing, though this time it was more out of worry about the mission than any worries about Shepard. Jodie found herself looking out to the planet around her, wondering what the salarian commander's plan was. Whatever it was, it was likely something drastic, however: that much, she could tell from the way Wrex had nearly turned on the group.

And in the end, Jodie knew that there were more important things to be worrying about than Shepard. Saren was still a threat, and she knew that she could not ignore Saren in favor of Shepard right then. After all, there was much more she could do about Saren.

She blinked upon hearing some sand shift close by. She turned, looking up at Commander Shepard. "Holmes," he said.

Jodie looked at him before standing up. "Hello Shepard," she said. She then looked at the commander, resisting the urge to swallow. "Do you need me for anything?"

"Yes, but first things first," said Shepard. He then bowed his head. "Thank you for talking to Wrex. I would have done so myself, but you were closer. I'm glad you got through to him."

Jodie nodded, glancing to the side. "He's... a friend," Jodie said. "I was just worried."

"Be that as it may, you still did something good for all of us," said Shepard. He then looked down. "Though, he may have mentioned you had similar experiences?"

Jodie's gaze turned to the ground, one of her hands gripping her arm. "It's far in the past," she replied. "If... I'd rather not talk about it."

"I see." The commander crossed his arms. "I asked Ashley, but she told me not to worry about it. And either way, you acted for the good of the ground team. You'll be on the ground team this mission. Liara and Tali are with us as well."

Jodie nodded. "Of course, Commander," she said, giving him a nod. She then looked over. "What's the plan?"

"Kirrahe will take Ashley and his STG group to act as a distraction," Shepard replied. "While he does that, we'll infiltrate and disable the anti-air guns that would keep the Normandy away from the center of the base. Once there, the plan is to plant an improvised nuke in a specific spot, and then to get the hell out of dodge."

Jodie nodded. "And Wrex is okay with this?" she asked.

"Yes," said Shepard. "He doesn't like it, but he won't stop us."

Jodie nodded. "Then I'll be ready whenever you are, Commander," she replied.

"Good," said Shepard. "Kirrahe was going to deploy soon. And once he is deployed, we will be deployed too."

"I guess this 'Kirrahe' guy is the salarian's commander?" Jodie asked.

"Yes," said Shepard. "Come on. We should get ready."

And with this, the commander walked away. Jodie remained still, glancing back out to the area with the thunderstorms. She saw a last flash of lightning off in the distance, and she could hear the deep rumble of thunder quietly roll in. She looked down at the waves, sighing as she looked over.

It was then that Aiden clicked. Jodie looked up, nodding.  _Don't worry, Aiden, I'll be careful,_  she said. _  
_

Aiden chirped in the affirmative, and then Jodie set off to where she saw all the salarians and the Normandy's ground team gather.

* * *

Jodie landed, her hand splaying out on the ground beneath her as she looked up nervously. However, she snapped out of it, quickly drawing her assault rifle as she looked at Liara. She heard some comms chatter from Shepard, before she herself adjusted her own comm unit.

"- _ou copy?_ " she heard.

"We copy," said Shepard.

" _Good_ ," said the salarian voice, obviously Kirrahe. " _We will start our attack now. Be on the lookout for anything that can help us._ "

"Will do," said Shepard. "Ashley, be vigilant."

" _Yes, sir,_ " Ashley replied on the other end of the line.

Jodie nodded as the group walked forward. As they did this, Liara looked to the others. "Is anyone else nervous about this?" the asari asked.

"I know I am," said Jodie. "But as long as we're giving it all we've got, we should be fine."

"And who knows?" Tali asked. "We may finally have some answers."

"That's true," said Liara. "Sorry. I was just worried."

"Worry later," said Shepard as he advanced. Jodie looked up, and saw a geth unit up on the nearby walkway. "Come on. Let's disable that AA gun."

Shepard then rushed forward, firing his assault rifle at the geth unit as he ran up the stairs. This caught the geth by surprise, but before Jodie could add anything else she noticed that there were several other geth units immediately in front of them. She thus brought her assault rifle to bear, firing a volley at the geth unit just beyond the one Shepard shot down. Her own rifle brought its shields down, but before she could take it down herself she saw a shower of sparks explode from the geth's flashlight head. She looked over, seeing Tali with her pistol out and her omni-tool open. Tali then advanced, taking cover behind a nearby outcropping as Jodie followed her.

She fired an assault rifle at a geth unit further down the walkway, and it was only then that Jodie noticed that the pathway turned to the left. As she noticed this, however, she saw rounds impact against her shields. She dove into cover just in time to avoid breaking her shields, before she fired a volley of assault rifle fire at the geth unit, taking it down immediately. She looked forward, seeing Shepard take another geth unit down.

That was when she saw a red-plated geth running up to the group. She fired a few rounds from it, but then she noticed that the red-tinted geth held something a little larger than a standard assault rifle. As she noticed this, the red geth fired, and then Jodie saw something heading towards them with what she immediately recognized was a smoke trail from a rocket.

"Shit! Get down!"

She then ducked, the rocket sailing above her overhead. However, it impacted against something behind her, and before she knew it Jodie's shields were down. Jodie felt nothing else, however, and so she raised her assault rifle again, firing at the red trooper wildly. The trooper's shields disappeared, but before Jodie could deal the finishing blow she watched as another rocket was launched. She looked over, and barely jumped out of the way in time as she felt the force of a closer explosion. Jodie then looked up, still reeling slightly from the blow.

As she did this, she watched as the red geth unit was launched backwards into a whole series of geth troopers. She briefly saw the blue aura that surrounded it, and then she watched as Shepard charged forward, Liara trailing behind. Jodie nodded, quickly scrambling to her feet and following the both of them as they turned down the turn on the walkway.

She then fell into step, looking on as she saw another red-tinted unit. "Go for the red one!" Jodie shouted. "It's got rockets!"

"We noticed!" Shepard replied. Even so, however, Jodie watched as Shepard fired directly at the red geth. She then watched as this geth was also thrown back, but this time it did not clatter into any geth behind it. It also stood right up, but Jodie heard a pistol shot from behind her, and the red geth collapsed at the same time.

Jodie nodded, turning her fire towards a geth trooper that rushed straight at the group. This one went down, and it was then that she noticed the path turning off to the right further down. She then glanced to the right, and quickly turned her assault rifle towards the pathway opposite where they were. It was just in time, too, for she was able to open fire on one of the red geth units, right as it was preparing to fire a rocket. Jodie's sudden action alerted Tali immediately, and she thrusted her omni-tool arm out. Jodie watched as more sparks rained from the red-tinted geth, which caused the geth to aim down at the walkway.

Jodie jumped a little as the rocket exploded right at the geth's feet. She quickly regained her bearings, though, and looked at the carnage that the geth had left off. However, as she looked at it, she noticed something else further in the distance: it appeared to be some kind of large platform off in the distance, and from the distance she was at, she thought she could see numerous geth units. There was some kind of watchtower-like edifice that was constructed there, and from there she could see several geth.

She then pointed at the platform she saw, glancing ahead of the group to make sure there were no geth . "Shepard, that looks important over there."

Shepard looked at where Jodie pointed, while the commander stood rather quietly. "Hm... There are a lot of geth over there."

"Maybe it's important," said Liara as she looked over there. "Should we investigate it?"

"Kirrahe did tell us to look out for anything that might help him," said Tali. "That could help him."

"Then we'll be investigating that," Shepard replied, turning down the pathway and running along it quickly. "Come on."

And with this, Jodie, Liara, and Tali all followed Shepard down the pathway, the group shooting any geth that got in their way. As they got closer to the platform, though, Jodie looked up at the geth at the top of the watchtower. Shepard, seeming to sense Jodie's trepidation, grabbed a little disc out from his utility belt.

"Everyone, keep your heads down!" Shepard shouted.

He then threw the disc as hard as he could, the disc sailing into the openings left by the watch-tower like construction. Jodie counted down a few seconds, watching as the geth inside turned their attention to where she assumed the disc was. However, the opening of the watchtower was rocked by an explosion, geth parts sailing out of the opening and onto the platform around them.

The geth surrounding the platform took a second to look up as if confused. Jodie took advantage of the distraction, slamming her back against a nearby crate before immediately coming up and opening fire. She quickly took down a single geth unit, turning her attention to another when she saw its flashlight explode in sparks. Jodie then turned around, looking ahead to see more geth troopers coming. She turned, firing her assault rifle in their direction in such a way that the rounds just missed their targets.

None of the shots connected, but Jodie did force them into cover. This momentary lapse in geth-based caused a brief respite for the team, and as Jodie repositioned while firing she caught sight of Tali and Shepard climbing into the watchtower. Liara was still on the same level as Jodie, and Jodie saw Liara throw what looked like a ball of dark violet energy right at the geth. She watched the ball impact against the floor, and right as soon as it did she saw all the geth in the area levitate, slowly moving around the ball on the ground.

Jodie blinked, not wasting any time. She brought her assault rifle to bear, firing at a single geth unit. She watched its head light go out, and immediately turned to fire at another unit caught in whatever it was Liara had done. She fired wildly, but before she could do much else her weapon beeped loudly. Swearing loudly, Jodie retreated behind the crate she had taken cover behind, switching to her pistol quickly and resuming her fire. She managed to take down a geth trooper with the pistol, before she saw another disc fly into the incoming group. Jodie ducked under cover, and then she heard (and felt) the resulting explosion immediately afterwards.

She then looked behind her, seeing Tali and Shepard descending from the watch tower. She then stood up, glancing behind her to see there were no further geth incoming. As soon as she saw this, Jodie turned back, walking towards Shepard as Liara joined her.

"Was there anything in there?" she asked.

"Yes," said Tali.

Shepard nodded, giving Tali a coy smile. "Let's just say these geth are going to have a hard time coordinating for a while," he said.

"There were communications in there, I take it," said Liara.

"And Tali just made scrambled eggs of all of them," Shepard replied. He then nodded, turning his attention to Jodie. "Good eyes, Holmes. Keep them peeled."

Jodie nodded. "Thank you, sir," she said. She then turned ahead, looking down the path. "We should get going, shouldn't we?"

"Yes, we should," said Shepard. "Come on!"

Shepard then rushed forward. The three women looked at each other for a second, and then they turned and followed Shepard into what would undoubtedly be more firefights.

* * *

The group fought their way into the base methodically, finally finding a way in that they were all too keen to follow. The whole time, they had to deal with more and more geth running in, but after a certain point time it became rather routine for them to run into more geth. And so, the group pressed on.

It was when they finally reached a lower level filled with several holding cells that things changed quite a bit. And it was a change Jodie noticed almost immediately as they walked past some of the cells.

Jodie looked inside, frowning at what she saw. In one cell, there was a single salarian, standing around with an air of eerie calm surrounding him. Jodie then looked to the very next cell, seeing a few more salarians, all of them milling about quietly. The stares of all the salarians were blank, however, and Jodie could sense no light being reflected from them even though the room was brightly lit. But more than anything, they stood perfectly still, more still than Jodie thought any living thing was capable of standing.

Jodie felt a shiver crawl down her spine as she approached the cell with the single salarian. As she got closer, Aiden trilled quietly, the sound low and foreboding. Jodie had to fight back a nod as Shepard, Tali, and Liara joined her in front of the cell.

It took the salarian a few seconds to register their presence. As soon as he did, though, he turned sharply towards them, so sharply that Jodie jumped. "What do you want? I told you everything I-!" he said, his voice frantic and quick. The salarian then paused, his eyes focusing as he stood perfectly still. "Who are you? Alliance, right? I knew someone would come. It tried to break me, but it couldn't! I shut it out!"

"Whoah," said Jodie. "Slow down, please."

Shepard nodded. "We need to know where you came from," Shepard said. "Slow down. Were you part of Kirrahe's unit?"

"Yes, sir," said the salarian, his speech faster than ever. "Private Menos Avat of the Third Infiltration Regiment STG, sir! Captured while on reconnaissance six days ago!"

Tali frowned, leaning forward. "Is it me, or is his speech a little fast even for a salarian?" she asked.

"No, it's pretty fast for me too," said Jodie. Aiden chirped his agreement, before gurgling a little more.

Shepard then crossed his arms in front of him. "What did they ask you?" he asked.

"Nothing, sir," he said. "Just whispers and cutting and probing from these bastards. It was nothing but incessant whispering."

"Just whispers and..." Liara paused, looking at Shepard. "Oh no, don't tell me they were experimenting on these salarians with..."

"Benezia described whatever Saren did to her like he was whispering in her mind, didn't she?" Jodie asked as she turned her attention to the asari.

"She did..." said Liara. "Goddess, how many people can this flagship affect?"

"Flagship?" the salarian asked. "I don't know what you're talking about. I just want some payback on the bastards. I need to get  _out_!"

Jodie bit her lower lip, looking at the salarian's black stare. The whole time, the salarian's expression had remained completely neutral and unreadable, and apart from the inflections of the speech, there was nothing to indicate that the salarian had any sort orf emotional attachment to what he said. Jodie felt her skin crawl at the way he stood perfectly still, not even moving his arms.

Jodie stepped back. "I'm not sure that's safe, Commander," she said. "Something is off about this guy."

"Off?" asked the salarian, his voice strained as he spoke more and more rapidly. "Nothing's off about me. I'm just angry, annoyed, irritated. I want to get the bastards who did this to me! How can you not see that?"

"We've seen this kind of thing before," said Shepard. He shook his head.

"He could die if we don't let him out," said Liara. "But at the same time..." She shook her head, sadly. "Death would be a kinder mercy than whatever it is my mother went through. Than what this salarian probably did as well."

Shepard nodded grimly. "We'll need to leave him in there," he said. "I'm sorry, Liara."

Liara nodded. "I understand, Commander," she said. "It does not mean I like it, but I understand."

"Trust me, I don't like it either," said Shepard as he walked away from the cell with the single salarian. "I'll make whatever did that too him pay."

"No!" the salarian shouted, only then moving as Jodie turned away. "Don't leave me here! Not with the whispers! I need to get out! I need to do what they say! Let me out! Let me out!"

Jodie did not stay behind as she walked away. She closed her eyes, letting out a shakey breath. In the next second, Aiden clicked, the click certain and positive in a sense.

Jodie sighed.  _Yeah_ , she thought.  _That was probably the right thing to do._

They then walked over to the next cell, which also housed a couple other salarians. Most of them milled around on the ground, but there was one who had stood up and walked towards the front of the cell. He had turned his gaze to the cell next to him as the rantings of the odd salarian began to subside eerily. Shepard then approached this cell, looking at the salarian in the front of it.

"I think you made the right call there," the salarian began, his voice sounding resigned. "He hasn't been the same since they isolated him."

"They isolated him?" Shepard asked.

"And a few others," he replied. "Lieutenant Ganto Imness of the Third Infiltration Regiment, captured during recon." He then looked up. "Since you're here, I assume you were called in to destroy the base?"

"We were," said Shepard. "Commander Shepard. Alliance Navy."

The salarian nodded. "Good," he said. "Maybe now this place will be destroyed." He looked down. "My team was separated, indoctrinated."

"Indoctrinated?" said Tali. "To serve Saren?"

"No," the salarian replied. "There were... there were a lot of people in lab coats. Some were asari, actually. They took some of us away, and then... they did experiments. Indoctrinated them and poked around their mind."

Jodie blinked, looking at the others. "Wait... Saren is indoctrinating these people, and then he's testing them?"

"That sounds awfully odd for someone who indoctrinates others himself," Liara replied. She then turned to the salarian. "Do you know why they were doing it?"

"No," replied the salarian with a shake of his head. "I've been in here ever since they began experimenting on my men. And the scientists never hover close enough to this cell for me to catch any references to why they're doing this. I think that, even though he uses it, he doesn't fully understand it."

"So no matter what, it's still weird," said Jodie. "Why would he use something he doesn't understand? That sounds so strange..."

"It does," said Tali. "Unless..."

Shepard paused, looking over at his squadmates. "No, that's ridiculous," he said. "It has to be Saren. He must be in control of whatever it is they're doing here."

Aiden gave a flat click in response. Jodie swallowed a little harder than usual, and it helped her avoid giving the glare that she would have directed at Aiden otherwise. "M-maybe," Jodie said. "After all, who's heard of a starship with its own mind?" She shook her head. "This does seem like a weird detail, though." She then looked over at the other salarians. "Are they indoctrinated?"

"No," said the lieutenant. "Any salarians they've indoctrinated were taken out of this cell already. You've already seen what happened to one of them. We should be harmless, though."

Shepard nodded. "I'm letting you out of your cell, then," he said. "You're on your own after that point, though."

"Don't look back and hope to outrun the blast, hm?" the salarian asked. "A better chance than I had before you showed up."

"Indeed it is," said Shepard as he moved to opening the gate. "Thank you for that information. We may have to think on it after Virmire."

"That would be best," said Liara. "Maybe we'll run into something that will provide us with answers..."

"You may, where I failed," said Ganto as the cell door opened. "Thank you, Commander. And good luck. You'll need it."

With this, Ganto exited the cell, the remainin two salarians perking up and standing. They then walked up, and right as they passed the nearest cell the ranting of the indoctrinated salarian began again. The three salarians ignored it, however, and they walked forwards, picking up their pace as they reached the doorway back to where Shepard and the group had come from.

Jodie looked over at Liara. "I don't like the sound of what we just heard," she said.

"Neither do I," said Shepard. "I should've expected Saren would turn out to be an idiot as well as an enemy of the Council." He then shook his head, giving a contemptful scoff. "Come on. Let's be on the lookout for anything that can help us put that puzzle together."

"Yes sir," Jodie replied, drawing her assault rifle again as the others drew their weapons. They then followed Shepard to the opposite end of the hangar, Aiden giving off soft clicks every so often as they ventured deeper into the facility.

* * *

Jodie shot her rifle at one of the red-tinted units, but before she could take it down, it fired its rocket into the group. With a loud gasp, Jodie quickly retreated behind cover, the rocket sailing past her and impacting on the far wall before she leaned out of cover again. As she did, though, she saw the red trooper explode in a shower of sparks, though Jodie wasted no time turning her attention to a regular geth trooper.

The geth had been rather easily taken care of after they'd encountered the trapped salarians. They had bumped into an asari doctor earlier who was working for Saren. The group had let her go after she gave them a map to get deeper into the base, and so far Jodie noticed that they had not been led astray by the map. If the number of geth units around them was any indication, Jodie felt they could only get closer to where they needed to go.

And as this thought came to mind, Jodie turned, firing at a geth trooper. The trooper was taken down by her pretty quickly, and she was able to watch as another geth trooper flew past her line of sight, the blue aura of biotics giving her some idea of whose attack it was.

And then, Jodie heard a loud roar. Jodie's hair stood on end, and then she looked up behind the units of geth to see something large come barreling right at them. She thought she saw someone fire some rounds at the thing, but Jodie saw the rounds bounce off the shields. Immediately, she heard two other roars just like it, and looked behind to see two more of them rushing at the group. They were big, they were ugly, and at that moment Jodie wished Wrex had come along.

"Krogan!" she shouted, turning her fire towards the krogan that was barreling straight at her.

However, even though the krogan's shield was down, Jodie's shot did nothing to stop the rampaging krogan that was running at her. Jodie stepped out of cover to run back, but as she readied her pistol to fire the krogan gained on her, hitting her pistol away from her with a rather violent slap of his hand. Jodie let out a cry of pain at this, her arms flaring up in pain as her pistol clattered to the side.

Jodie opened her eyes, seeing the krogan bring his shotgun to bear. Instinctively, Jodie leapt to the side, ignoring the pain in her arms as adrenalin coursed through her veins. A split second later, she heard the loud report of the shotgun, the brunt of the impact which was taken by her shields. She landed a split second later, feeling the pain shoot up her arms.

She bit her lower lip, almost hard enough to draw blood. It was the only way she could keep from screaming.  _Come on, keep it together... you've gotta take this guy down somehow!_  she thought. She then scrambled to her feet, ignoring the pain in her arms as another shotgun blast went off where she had been barely a short while ago. She then stood up, looking directly at the krogan in front of her as it snarled in annoyance.

He then turned the shotgun towards her, but before he could pull the trigger Jodie's training came in. She rushed towards the shotgun, gripping it hard. She held her grip despite the pain that flared in her arms, though she nearly lost her grip after the krogan pulled the trigger and the recoil caused the pain to get worse. Thinking quickly, Jodie brought her head back, before instantly snapping it forward and headbutting the krogan hard enough to cause the krogan to let out a grunt. Before the krogan could retaliate, Jodie repeated the motion quickly, and this time she yanked back on the shotgun.

She was rewarded with the krogan stumbling backwards, a look of surprise on his features. Jodie barely had any time to savor it, however, for she then felt the world seem to pull itself out from under her. She stumbled back, dropping the shotgun before steadying herself against the ground. She shook her head, groaning in pain as she looked back at the krogan. The krogan had stood up, glaring at Jodie fiercely.

"You're a feisty one," he said. "At least I'll get a good fight out of this before you die!"

Jodie spat despite the pain she felt in her arms and head. "I'd like to see you try, motherfucker!" she replied.

The krogan bellowed, before rushing back at her. As he approached, though, Jodie rolled right underneath the krogan, bowling him over as this allowed her to get a grip on the shotgun. She then stood up, her legs shaking somewhat from the dizziness she felt from the action. She was too slow to act, however, and so when the krogan grabbed the barrel and ripped the shotgun out of Jodie's grip, Jodie felt herself get pulled forward. Jodie stumbled to the ground, rolling as she looked up in pain.

Not one to give up, she quickly got back to her feet, stepping back from the krogan as he stalked towards her. She looked up, hearing Aiden chirp in concern. She frowned back at the krogan a second later, looking at the krogan as he approached.

The krogan then let out a roar, charging straight at Jodie. Jodie only gave a subtle nod, steeling herself for impact.

And then, the shotgun off to the side catapaulted into Jodie's hands. Jodie gripped it, turning right at the krogan as his eyes widened in surprise. The krogan did not have any time to react, however, for Jodie immediately fired the shotgun, the rounds doing noticeable damage to the krogan's armor. Jodie knew it was not enough, though, so she fired the shotgun again, this round stopping the krogan in its tracks. Jodie then fired the shotgun four more times, each round hitting true, before the fourth round finally caused the krogan to fall over. Jodie paused, looking at the krogan again as it remained unmoving.

Jodie fired two more times anyway to make sure it stayed down.  _Never can tell with something that size_ , she thought.

And then, the adrenaline wore off, and the pain in her arms returned. She let out a groan of pain, dropping the shotgun before finally lifting her arms to get a good look.

It was only then that Jodie realized that her left fore-arm was bent in a place it probably should not have been bent. Her eyes widened at this, but she noticed as well that there was no bone sticking out either. Still, she knew her left arm would be incapacitated before she could see Dr. Chakwas to fix it. She then turned her attention to her right arm, which looked unharmed: it still hurt quite a bit, but since the pain there had numbed Jodie assumed that she would just have a large bruise on that arm for some time.

She then looked beyond, seeing Tali and Shepard finish off one of the other krogan. Liara was already running over, and Jodie noticed that there was a dead krogan there already.

Liara immediately approached, looking at Jodie's arm. "Goddess," she said. "How did that happen?"

"Got smacked in the arm by a krogan," said Jodie with a light chuckle.

Liara nodded, opening her omni-tool. After a few seconds, she felt the pain in her left arm numb considerably, and she nodded gratefully. "You'll probably have to get that looked at by Dr. Chakwas," Liara replied.

"I know," said Jodie. She then looked forward, hearing a loud gunshot as Shepard and Tali finally disposed of the krogan. "We need to keep moving. There's more we have to do."

Liara nodded. "There is," she said. "Let's regroup and get going."

Liara and Jodie then walked over to Shepard, who was wiping his forehead from the strain. As she moved along, Jodie picked up her pistol from where it had clattered to the side.

 _I hope I can fire this thing with one hand,_  she thought.  _I'm going to have to do that for the remainder of the mission now._

Aiden clicked in agreement, and with this, Jodie holstered the pistol as she approached Shepard.

* * *

Eventually, the group found themselves in an elevator that took them down very quickly. The group had gone through quite a few more enemies before reaching that point, though Jodie had thankfully been able to haul her own weight around despite her broken arm. Her shots were still somewhat steady, a fact even she had a difficult time believing considering that she only had one hand available to shoot with, and even if they were not the geth were usually finished quickly enough anyway where that was not so much an issue.

And thus, it was that they found themselves heading down, in an area without any geth in it. The elevator ride down was quiet, Jodie nursing her left arm. The pain had been numbed considerably by then, but Jodie found herself caressing it from time to time. She had half a mind to berate Aiden for not healing her arm completely since she knew Aiden was more than capable of doing that, but she also knew that Shepard's proximity to her posed a problem. So she kept quiet.

Eventually, the elevator arrived at its destination. And then, Jodie and the group walked out into a rather small room with two levels. On the upper level, Jodie saw a control panel of some kind, with a good amount of space for what she figured would be a holographic projection. However, down in the second level Jodie saw something else: it was a tall spire, with green light emanating out from the base. She also saw that the base was quite a bit wider than the spire.

Liara instantly started. "Shepard, it's a beacon," she said.

Jodie looked on. "That's a prothean beacon?" she asked.

"Yes," said Shepard. He then frowned. "If it's here, Saren must have had a reason for keeping it around."

"He must have," said Tali. "Should you really be taking in a beacon's vision?"

"It'll help us take down Saren," Shepard replied as he walked down the ramp to the second level. "Come on."

The rest of the group followed him down without another word. The group then approached the beacon, Jodie watching as Shepard stepped forward. He seemed to approach the beacon with a little bit of trepidation: Jodie could not say she blamed Shepard for that. The commander eventually stepped towards the beacon, the eerie green light at the base forming a silhouette around the commander.

Jodie then watched as he splayed his hands forward, hearing a beep. A second later, a bright green light formed right at the base of the beacon, the light almost turning white as the greenish aura began to collect. Before long, Jodie saw the commander get lifted about an inch or two into the air, and he remained floating there. Aiden instantly chirped before Jodie could ask, but all Jodie could do was watch as the light brightened immensely, Shepard throwing his head back.

Finally, after a tense few seconds, whatever it was that had held Shepard in place released the commander, and he fell to his knees. Tali immediately rushed over to the commander, kneeling beside him as the commander breathed in and out.

"Shepard, are you all right?" Tali asked.

Shepard breathed in a few times, looking back at Tali on the last exhale. "I'm fine," he said. "Give me a few minutes and I'll have my usual bearings back."

"What information did you get this time?" Liara asked.

"I don't know," said Shepard. "We'll have to analyze it back on the Normandy. For now, we should get a move on."

Jodie nodded, turning around. "Yeah, we should-"

And then she looked up towards the top of the second level, seeing a hologram with a particularly unsettling shade of scarlet directly above them. She could not make out any distinct shapes from the lower level, but something about the red hologram above caused a small shiver to climb up Jodie's arms.

Jodie blinked, pointing up at the red holograms. "What happened up there?" she asked.

The others followed Jodie's finger, all of them seeing the the red holograms. "That doesn't look good," said Tali. She then looked at the others. "Do you think we can-?"

"I don't think we can avoid it, no," said Shepard. He then looked to the others. "Let's see what that's about."

Shepard then walked up, Tali following without hesitation. Liara and Jodie hesitated, Liara turning to Jodie with a brow equivalent that was pulled back. "I don't know if this is a good idea," said Liara.

Jodie sighed, before following Shepard up. "I don't think it is either, but we're not going to get any answers down here," she said. "Come on. Let's see what this is all about."

And with this, Jodie walked up the walkway, Liara following behind immediately. They then approached, watching as another form appeared, also in a bright scarlet. This time, though, the form looked like a large monster. Jodie felt a shudder travel down her spine just from looking at it, the tentacle-like appendages flaring out. However, as she looked on, Jodie thought she could see something largely mechanical about it, too.

" _ **You are not Saren.**_ "

Jodie gasped, jumping up slightly at the loud, boomy voice that spoke. She looked around, her eyes wide before her gaze settled on the hologram once again.

"W-what is that?" Jodie asked.

"It looks like some kind of VI interface," Liara replied.

" ** _Rudimentary_ _creatures,_** " the voice replied, Jodie feeling the chills race down her spine even faster. " ** _You touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding._** " _  
_

"I don't think this is a VI..." Tali said, her voice trailing off.

" _ **There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own you cannot even imagine**   **it,**_ " the voice replied, the tentacles on the hologram moving again.

"Oh, I don't know," Shepard replied. "I think I could imagine something like it. Just imagine a regular acid trip if it were animated, right?"

" ** _You should not speak in jest to one who is beyond your comprehension,_** " the voice replied. " ** _I am_ _Sovereign!_** "

Shepard paused. "Wait... Sovereign isn't just a Reaper ship Saren found," he said. He then stepped forward. "It's an actual Reaper!"

" ** _Reaper?_** " Sovereign replied. " ** _A label created by the Protheans to voice their destruction. In the end, what they choose to call us is irrelevant. We simply_ _are._** "

"The Protheans vanished fifty thousand years ago!" Liara replied. "You could not have been there! It's impossible!"

" ** _Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident,_** " Sovereign replied. " ** _Your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die. We are eternal. The pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything._** "

Aiden chirped an objection, but Jodie dared not voice it. She looked directly at the hologram as Shepard stepped forward. "So?" he asked. "In case you haven't noticed, we have an entire galaxy standing on the sidelines. I'm pretty sure they'll stand up when they see that all organic life is set to be destroyed by a bunch of talking machines."

" _ **Confidence borne of ignorance**_ **,** " Sovereign replied. " ** _The cycle cannot be_ _broken._** "

"Cycle?" Jodie looked over at Liara. "Cycle... So you were the reason the Protheans vanished, then!" She turned to Sovereign's hologram, pointing at it. "Just like what Shepard's visions implied!"

"Why would you destroy the Protheans?" Liara asked.

" ** _They are but a whisper of another cycle,_ "** Sovereign replied. " ** _The Protheans did not create the Citadel. They did not forge the mass relays. They merely found them, the legacy of my_**   ** _kind._** " Sovereign then paused, Jodie feeling as if the Reaper was staring into her soul. _"_ ** _The pattern has repeated itself more times than you can fathom. Organic civilizations rise, evolve, advance... and at the apex of their glory, they are_ _extinguished._** " _  
_

"That's messed up," said Jodie.

"I'd have to agree with my squadmate here," Shepard replied. "Why did you leave things for us to intentionally find?"

" _ **Your civilization is based on the technology of the mass relays, our**   **technology**_ **,** " Soveriegn replied. " ** _By using it, your society develops along the paths we desire. We impose order on the chaos of organic evolution. You exist because we allow it. And you will end because we_ _de-_** " _  
_

Shepard slammed his fist down on the railing, before raising it and pointing his finger accusingly at Sovereign. "You lie!" he said. "Nothing would be capable of such heinous crap like that!"

" ** _And yet you stand there, grappling with the reality of your existence_ ,**" Sovereign replied.

"So that means we're being... Oh God!" Jodie said, bringing her hand up to her mouth. "That's..."

"That is a lie!" said Shepard, leaning forward and pointing at Sovereign. "You cannot be real! You cannot control evolution in such a way! That is impossible! Such a thing is not achievable!"

" _ **You have seen the fruits of our labor, and yet you refuse to accept the**   **truth,**_ " Sovereign replied. " ** _The cycle shall not be_ _repeated._** "

"Even if it is, you're just a machine!" said Shepard. "Someone must've created you, and if you were created, you can be broken! I'll even break you open with a crowbar if that's what it takes!"

" _ **Your words are as empty as your**   **future,**_ " Sovereign replied. " ** _I am the vanguard of your destruction. This exchange is_ _over._** "

And then, an explosion rocked the room, Jodie letting out a loud cry as she ducked to avoid the flying glass. The rest of the squad was nearly knocked off their feet from the force of the tremor, and then the group watched as the hologram of Sovereign cut out. As soon as the initial tremor ended, everyone looked around, the silence becoming deafening as they noticed that some of the lights in the room had been taken out.

And then, everyone's communications units beeped. " _Commander, we've got trouble,_ " Joker's voice said.

Shepard angrily slammed his fist down, Jodie noticing that the impact had dented the metal a little bit. "What is it  _now_?" Shepard asked, his brows furrowed in anger as he abruptly paced past Jodie and Liara.

" _That ship, Sovereign? It's moving._ " Jodie looked up abruptly. " _I don't know what you did down there, but that thing just pulled a move that would have sheared any of our ships in half. It's coming your way, and it's coming hard! You better wrap things up in there, fast!_ "

Jodie then pulled herself up as Joker cut out. "So what do we do now?" she asked.

"Well, we're done here," said Shepard. "We need to set that nuke. And then we need to find out what the fuck that thing  _really_ is before I strangle someone."

Jodie blinked, but before she could reply Shepard was already on route to the elevator. Tali followed as she pulled herself to her feet, Liara pulling herself up as she looked at the commander.

The asari then turned to Jodie. "He seems awfully angry, does he not?" she asked.

Jodie frowned. "He kind of does..." she said. She paused, looking back up at Aiden. She then shook her head, looking forward. "We can't think about this now. We've got to get going."

"Right," said Liara. She then stood up, following Tali to where Shepard had already called the elevator back up.

Jodie paused herself, looking up at Aiden.  _I can't, at least,_ " she thought.  _But Aiden... didn't that seem odd to you?_

Aiden gurgled in agreement. Jodie nodded, before walking over to join the rest of them. _  
_

 _He is getting more and more suspicious with each thing we find out,_  she thought.  _I think that, for once, you and I share a bad feeling..._

Aiden clicked, and Jodie said no more as she joined Shepard at the door.

* * *

It took a long while, and for Jodie everything passed by as if it were a blur. But eventually, the AA Gun had been taken out by way of Tali's hacking expertise.

It was thus that Shepard and the group found themselves waiting out in an open area. It was a very clear area, with a very shallow body of water off to the side. Jodie looked it, sighing in regret.

 _Soon enough, this area is going to be reduced to ash,_  Jodie thought.  _Not even ash, really. It's just going to be nothing..._

Aiden clicked morosely, to which Jodie looked up.  _Yeah, it's kind of strange, isn't it?_ she asked.  _And we'll be done here after that..._  she then paused, looking back up at the sky.

"Do you think this'll work?" Jodie asked out loud.

"There isn't a reason it shouldn't," said Liara. She then looked over at Shepard. "What are your orders?"

"Jodie, you're to go back onto the Normandy as soon as it lands," Shepard replied. "We need Dr. Chakwas to inspect your arm."

Jodie nodded, biting her lower lip.  _Well, I do have to get my arm looked at_ , she thought.  _And here I was hoping I'd actually get to see what happened._

"Yes, sir," Jodie said. "I'll go to her first thing." She then looked back at Shepard. "I guess you're going to stay here to finalize the preparation of the bomb?"

"Yes," said Shepard. "The salarians on-board will have finished it. I'll have to stay here, though, just in case Ashley and Kirrahe need our assistance."

"We've assisted them quite a bit," Tali replied. "Do you think they'll need more?"

Shepard nodded. "Always prepare for the worst," he said. "That's what my father taught me."

Jodie nodded. She opened her mouth to say more, but she was interrupted by the sight of the Normandy pulling around a bend. Jodie looked up, watching as the craft turned around, and then slowly approached to the ground to make its landing. She turned her attention to Liara, who was watching the ship land with an awed expression.

"I didn't think the Normandy could land on land," she replied.

"Neither did I," said Liara. She shrugged. "I guess it's a good thing it can, though."

"Yeah, that bomb will deploy soon," Shepard replied.

The group then watched as the Normandy's hangar bay doors opened. Out marched a group of salarians with a large, round device that stood about half the height of the multiple salarians carrying it out of the ship. Jodie assumed this was the bomb, and she stepped out of the way as the salarians walked by. She then looked back to the hangar bay, seeing Kaidan walk out slowly.

He nodded to the commander. "Should I get started?" Kaidan asked.

"Yes," said Shepard.

Kaidan nodded, and then he turned his attention to Jodie. "Jodie," he said, nodding with a smile. He then looked down at her arm, pausing. He then walked forward, nearly taking Jodie's arm in his hands. "Jodie, what happened?"

Jodie shrugged. "It got hit by a krogan," Jodie replied plainly. "It's not as bad as it seems, actually. I just need to get it seen by Dr. Chakwas."

Kaidan nodded. "I see," he said. "You're going to do that now, I guess?"

"Yeah," said Jodie. She then glanced at the bomb. "How long do you think that'll take?"

"I don't know, but there's a lot to do with it," said Kaidan. He then looked back at the hangar bay. "I won't keep you from seeing Dr. Chakwas."

Jodie smiled, nodding at Kaidan. "I guess I'll see you on the Normandy when all this is over?"

"Yeah," said Kaidan. "I'll see you in a bit, Jodie."

Jodie nodded, giving Kaidan a small smile. "I'll see you in a bit," she said.

And with this, Jodie walked away, glancing at Kaidan for a few seconds before she turned and walked up the open door into the hangar bay. She turned around, getting one last glimpse of the patch of Virmire they were on. As she did, she saw Kaidan walk towards the bomb, Shepard walking alongside him as they were no doubt talking amongst themselves. She watched as the salarians that carried the payload onto the sand walked back into the Normandy, and it was then that Jodie turned to the elevators, pressing the call button with her good arm as she approached the elevator doors.

* * *

"Just let it rest, and you should be good as new before we get back to the Citadel."

"I hope so, doctor. Did I ever mention just how great medicine is?"

"No. It's not like you'd need to anyway, right?"

Jodie shrugged, looking over at Dr. Chakwas. Jodie's arm felt much better now that Dr. Chakwas had worked her magic on it. Though the med bay was a little sterile for Jodie's taste, she felt somewhat comforted at all the machines there. Even having been in this future as long as she had, she was still surprised by how much they could do.

And as she looked back to her arm, she wondered where this technology way back then.

"I guess not," said Jodie. "But then again, you didn't see the kind of things I had to treat my injuries with on Earth. It was... kind of primitive, actually."

"I guess you were stuck in a poorer area on Earth?" Dr. Chakwas asked, sitting at her station.

"Yeah," said Jodie. "It was... interesting. And now that I know what goes on in the rest of the galaxy, I kind of wonder where all this was in my life before."

"I imagine anyone would have that reaction," said Dr. Chakwas. She then paused, looking up at the ceiling. "But there's still so much more we can discover."

"Isn't there always?" asked Jodie.

Dr. Chakwas paused. "I guess so," she replied. "I guess it's not my realm to worry about. I'm a military doctor, after all. I don't know if I could do that kind of research." She then looked back at Jodie, a smile playing on her lips. "But if there were someone doing research like that... I might be convinced to help out."

Jodie frowned. "You know there's lots of medical research going on all the time, right?"

"Yes, but there are certain...  _things_ that demand research that not everyone is researching," said Dr. Chakwas. "There's too little research in the things that actually matter, you know?"

Jodie felt her skin crawl, Aiden gurgling in fear. "You mean there's some medicine that's more important than other medicine?" she asked. "How can you say that?"

"There are just certain priorities," said Dr. Chakwas. She then shrugged. "But then, that's probably the rambling of an old military doctor. You don't have to pay it any mind. Speculation never hurt anyone, you know?"

Jodie paused, her hand clenched into a fist to keep herself from showing any surprise at Dr. Chakwas. "Maybe," said Jodie.  _But that isn't something I'd expect a medical professional to say_ , she mentally added. Aiden clicked in agreement, before Jodie relaxed. "Sorry, I guess I'm not used to-"

And then, Jodie's comm unit sprung to life. She frowned, lifting up her arm and seeing that it was a communication from Kaidan.

"What's this?" Jodie asked.

"Why would the Lieutenant phone you in the middle of a mission?" Dr. Chakwas asked.

"I... I don't know..." She then tapped the omni-tool open, bringing her hand up. "Kaidan?"

Jodie was immediately greeted with the sound of gunfire surrounding him. Faintly, she also heard a regular eletronic beep, and every so often there was some kind of shower of sparks. Jodie was immediately sitting at the edge of her seat, inhaling uneasily. This motion caused Dr. Chakwas to lean a little closer, Aiden clicking in alarm upon seeing the way Jodie's expression suddenly shifted.

"Kaidan?" Jodie repeated, louder this time. "Kaidan, what's going on down there?"

Jodie then heard a groan from the other end of the call. " _Agh... Dammit, one of the geth units caught me,_ " he said. Jodie noticed his breathing was rather labored, and she could tell from the firepower all around that he was under heavy fire. " _Well... shot me._ "

"Kaidan, what-?"

" _The geth... Ashley called while I was preparing the bomb,_ " he said. " _She and the salarians were surrounded, they couldn't get out. Shepard went to help them, and then a drop ship came towards me while Shepard was on his way there._ " _  
_

Jodie breathed in. "Wait, you're dealing with a geth drop ship all by yourself!?" she asked. "No, get out of there!"

" _I'm afraid there isn't much time to get out,_ " said Kaidan. " _With Saren's flagship getting closer, we don't have much time. You can't take it on alone, and this base needs to be destroyed. I..._ " He then breathed in sharply, Jodie bringing her hand up to her mouth in shock. " _I started the countdown on the bomb._ "

"While you're still there?" Jodie asked, her eyes widening as she began speaking quickly. "I... You can't have done that, Kaidan! Shepard'll come back... with Ashley, right? And then-"

" _There's not enough time to get us both out of here,_ " Kaidan replied. There was a brief break, and Jodie heard some assault fire right by whatever was picking up Kaidan's communication. " _Shepard went for Ashley._ "

Jodie breathed in softly, feeling her eyes water. "You're... You're not coming..." Jodie whispered.

" _I'm sorry_ ," Kaidan replied.

Jodie felt a lump form in her throat, a lump that she very quickly found herself swallowing. "No..." She whispered. She looked up at Aiden frantically, knowing even before he gurgled sadly that the Normandy was too far away for Aiden to help Kaidan in any way. She then looked down, standing up and walking around. "I... No, Kaidan..."

" _I'm sorry,_ " he repeated. Jodie heard another burst of fire. " _I know you looked to me for help sometimes. But you have Ash and Wrex. Promise me that you'll talk to at least Ashley if you need anything._ "

Jodie felt her tears begin go fall as she looked up. She frowned, feeling her heart race at the revelation. "I... I will..." she said, looking down at the floor of the med bay. She then sniffled. "You were my closest friend on this ship."

" _And you were good company, Jodie,_ " said Kaidan. " _I've got confidence that y_ _ou can do some real good in this galaxy, Jodie. Remember that if you're ever in doubt._ "

Jodie nodded, sniffling again as she brought her free hand to wipe her nose. "I will," she said.

" _Good,_ " said Kaidan. " _Goodbye, Jodie. Here's hoping we can meet again on the other side._ "

Before Jodie could reply, the comms link died. Jodie stood there, her eyes freely leaking tears by now. She looked ahead of her, marvelling at how suddenly everything was happening.

And then, Joker came on the comms. " _Everyone, brace for landing,_ " said Joker. " _We're picking up Shepard, and we're getting the hell out of dodge!_ "

Jodie then turned towards the door. She found her breaths getting more labored, her veins turning to ice as Kaidan's words jumbled themselves inside her mind. Jodie then found herself rushing towards the med bay doors, her good arm slamming against the door control.

Dr. Chakwas said something in protest, but Jodie paid her no attention in her rush to get downstairs. She rushed towards the elevator, slamming the hand of her good arm on the call button. When the elevator refused to respond quickly enough, she slammed her hand against the elevator display once, twice, three more times, before repeatedly slamming the controls in a frenzy. She bit her lower lip hard in an attempt to keep the scream building in her throat from being released.

After what felt like a long time, the elevator doors opened, Jodie quickly rushing in. The elevator trip down was somewhat quick, Jodie breathing in and out as her eyes widened.  _Please, let this be some kind of sick prank, please,_ Jodie thought, her eyes stinging with fresh tears as she stood in the elevator.

And then, the elevator doors opened, Jodie looking at the hangar bay doors long enough to see that they were beginning to close as they took off from Virmire's surface. Through her tears, Jodie saw that Shepard, Tali, and Liara were indeed standing there, and that Ashley was there as well. A bunch of very relieved-looking salarians had begun scattering all around the hangar bay, some of them looking back to catch a final glimpse of the planet they were departing.

As Jodie stepped off the elevator, she saw that the hangar bay doors had closed. They had closed, and Kaidan was nowhere in sight.

Jodie stepped forward, looking at the hangar bay doors as she took in a shaky breath of air. Her hair stood on end, and her pupils had shrunk quite a lot.

Before Shepard could say anything, Jodie fell to her hands and knees, her hot tears spilling onto the floor beneath her. And it was then that she unleashed a cry of anguish, one that was immediately cut short by her own throat as she squeezed her eyes shut and shed the rest of her tears in silence.


	18. Chapter 17

Jodie sat in the briefing room, her cheeks stained with her tears. She had run out of tears by the time debriefing finally had them, but one glance at the empty chair left Jodie with a sense of longing. If they'd had one more second, if they'd had more time... _  
_

 _If only I had been down there,_ Jodie thought, glancing at the ground. Aiden chirped weakly, but Jodie paid it no mind.

Of course, it was difficult for her to pay attention, considering the way Ashley looked across the room. All attention in the room was concentrated on her, and the way she leaned forward grimly.

"I can't believe Kaidan didn't make it," said Ash, her eyes squeezed shut. "How could we just  _leave_ him down there?"

"There was no time," Shepard replied. "I couldn't save you both. The bomb was about to go off." Shepard crossed his arms, looking at Ashley. "You know that just as well as I do, Williams."

"Then why didn't you leave me behind?" Ashley asked, pushing herself back into the chair and looking at the Commander angrily. "It should've been me. You know that."

Shepard frowned. "Unless you want to make a show of questioning my orders, I suggest you stay quiet," he replied. "I did what I had to do. The salarians were more valuable. You were with the salarians."

"I... I'm sorry, sir," Ashley replied, bowing her head down. "You saved my life, I know I should be greatful to you for that. But Alenko was a superior officer. He was more important for the mission. I would've gladly stayed behind."

Shepard paused. "Save that sentiment for later," said Shepard. "This is Saren's fault. When we find that son of a bitch, I'm going to make sure he pays for what he did." He then glanced over at Wrex, the krogan looking at the conversation with a furrowed brow. "Preferably with a few shotgun rounds to the face from a certain red krogan."

Ashley nodded. "Yes, sir," she said, holding herself erect. "We'll get it done."

Shepard nodded. "Indeed we will," he said. He then looked over at the others in the room. "Mark my words, we'll get Saren for this."

"You're damn right we will," said Wrex.

Shepard nodded. He then looked over at Liara. "Now, about that beacon we found..."

"Wait, there was a beacon down there?" Garrus asked.

"Yes," said Jodie. She looked over at the turian, one of her fingers wiping at where her cheekbone was. "We found it in a lab downstairs somewhere. I don't really know where it was. But it was there, and Shepard interfaced with it."

"I have a feeling it may be similar to the one he found on Eden Prime," said Liara as she stood up. "And if that is true, it may have filled in the missing pieces of the vision you got on Eden Prime."

"So if I meld with you, then I can fill it in and we can find out where Saren is heading?" Shepard stood up as soon as he said this, walking straight to the center of the room. "Good. Let's get it over with, then."

Liara nodded, stepping towards the Commander. She then looked right at him, nodding as he took a breath to steel himself. "Try to relax, Commander," she said. "Embrace eternity!"

And then, Jodie watched from her vantage point as Liara's eyes turned completely black. Liara and Shepard stood perfectly still for a few seconds, Aiden letting off a series of slow trills. Jodie herself leaned forward, watching the meld quietly. She glanced to the others, before her attention turned straight back to Shepard and Liara in the center of the room.

And then, Liara stepped back, her eyes returning to normal upon her next couple of blinks. She breathed in and out, looking at Shepard in surprise.

"In... Incredible..." the asari said. "I never thought the images would be so... intense..." She then paused, leaning forward on her knees. "I apologize. I need a moment to collect myself."

Shepard looked at Liara. "This is important, Liara," he stated. "Did the vision tell you anything else?"

"I... I think it was a distress call," Liara replied. "A warning to the rest of the empire, but it came too late."

"Or they didn't listen," Shepard replied, looking at Liara. "But whether that was true or not, that doesn't mean anything if it won't tell us anything about the conduit."

"Sorry," said Liara. "There were... flashes of many other things... I got so many flashes..." She breathed in, sighing. "There were locations. I recognized some of them in my research..." She paused, turning away from Shepard as she rubbed her chin in thought. She then stopped abruptly, turning back to Shepard. "Ilos! The Conduit is on Ilos!"

"Ilos?" Tali asked.

"I recognize it from some of my research," said Liara. She then stepped forward, Jodie seeing Liara's face light up. "That's why Saren needed the coordinates for the Mu Relay! It's the only way to get to Ilos!"

Shepard frowned, looking at Liara. "I see," he said. He then looked to the others. "We'll need to chart a course for Ilos."

"No good," Ashley replied. "Ilos is in the Terminus Systems, sir."

"I don't think there's a single Alliance Ship that would be welcome there," Garrus said. "And I think that goes for Spectres, too."

"And that doesn't change a damn thing," said Shepard. "We're getting to Ilos one way or another, and we are stopping Saren."

"Then we will need a Fleet for that," said Liara. "We must go to the Council, and... and... oooh..."

She then put her hand on her forehead, stumbling back a little. Jodie and Wrex darted out of the chair, Wrex and Jodie helping to hold Liara stable as they caught her. Jodie looked at Liara, helping her get a steady footing.

"Liara?" asked Jodie.

"I'm... I'm sorry, that meld took a lot out of me..." Liara sighed.

Jodie nodded. "Back to Dr. Chakwas?" she asked.

"Yes, please..." said Liara.

Shepard nodded. "This session is dismissed anyhow," said Shepard. "Back to your stations, everyone. I have a lot I need to think about."

This ended the conversation pretty definitively, and so Jodie and Wrex filed out, making sure Liara was on her feet. As Jodie looked back, she saw Ashley hesitate for a second. The gunnery chief stood up slowly, glancing back at Kaidan's chair once last time. Ashley then sighed, her eyes casting down to the floor.

However, any further observations on Ashley's actions were blocked by Jodie walking out of the doorway. It was then that she turned to Liara and Wrex.

"Seems like she's taking Alenko's loss pretty hard," said Wrex.

"I'll talk to her once Liara's down in the med bay," Jodie replied. "I think there are things I can tell her that can help."

Wrex nodded. "You do that," he said. "We need her in good position."

And the rest of the walk down to the med bay was taken in complete silence.

* * *

Jodie stepped out of the elevator, looking over to see Ashley standing at the arms table she normally stood at. She glanced to the side, seeing numerous salarians congregating around the lockers where Wrex would normally have stood. Jodie nodded at them once, seeing some of them nod back before she walked past them to where Ashley was.

Ashley did not look up as Jodie approached. Thus, Jodie gently put her hand on Ashley's shoulder. Jodie waited for a second or two, Ashley not swatting Jodie's hand away. After the wait, Jodie nodded, looking at Ashley. "Hey," she said.

"Hey," said Ashley quietly. She sighed. "Sorry."

Jodie shook her head. "You've got nothing to be sorry for..." She sighed, looking back at the hangar bay doors. "Kaidan managed to talk to me before we set off away from Virmire."

Ashley turned to look at Jodie. "He did, huh?" she asked. "I guess he knew he wasn't getting out..."

Jodie nodded grimly. She then turned over to the Mako, sighing before turning back to Ashley. "You know, if... if there's anything else you want me to do for you..." She nodded once, taking her hand off of Ashley's shoulder. "I can bring it to the Mako."

Ashley paused, turning to look at Jodie. "It's not something related to..." She then glanced up for the briefest of seconds, her gaze lingering before it turned back to Jodie.

Jodie nodded. "It is," she said. She then gestured to the Mako. "Come on."

Jodie then turned towards the Mako, moving towards it slowly. Jodie looked back, giving a slight nod as she saw Ashley follow her to the Mako. As they approached the door, Jodie glanced around the room, making sure there was no one in close proximity to the Mako. As soon as she was satisfied that nobody was close to the vehicle, she opened the door, looking to Ashley as she stepped inside the Mako.

Ashley stepped in, closing the door after her and sitting down in the usual seats. Jodie fumbled in the slight darkness, finally finding the seats and sitting down next to the gunnery chief.

"So Aiden has something to say?" Ashley asked.

Jodie nodded. "Yeah," she said. She then paused, looking up at Ashley. "Well, maybe it's not exactly Aiden, per se."

"What do you mean?" Ashley asked.

Jodie nodded. "He has an ability that I haven't mentioned to most people around here yet," she said. "One of those abilities... he can channel the spirit of a dead person."

Ashley blinked in surprise. "He... he can...?" she asked.

Jodie nodded. "Yes," she replied. "The more recently dead, the better, actually. I don't think he can go back very far when it comes to channeling spirits. But... If you want, I could see if Aiden can channel Kaidan for you."

Ashley blinked, looking at Jodie with a quirk in her eyebrow. "That sounds... too good to be true," she replied.

"But it's true..." Jodie sighed, looking away. "I can understand if you don't want to see it, though. I guess... I should've used caution when I used it in the past."

"Why?" Ashley asked, leaning forward.

"It's why Nathan went mad..." Jodie looked up at Ashley again, sighing. "Nathan was like a father to me. But he had other family to deal with, too, so as a child I didn't always see him unless he was at the lab." Jodie sighed, looking down at her own feet. "Nathan had a wife and daughter. When I had just settled into the facility where I lived most of my life, they..." Jodie sighed. "They were in a really bad car accident. Neither of them survived."

"I see." Ashley leaned back. "I'll guess you channeled them for Nathan, didn't you?"

"I did," Jodie replied. "I just... I was woken up in the middle of the night by their spirits. It seems weird, but they led me to him. And when I saw him..." Jodie closed her eyes, her eyes watering. "No one should have to see an expression like that at eight years old. He was... he was utterly  _destroyed_  by their deaths." Jodie's hand came up to her chest, and she sighed. "So I channeled their spirits. I thought it would make him feel better."

"So he rejected you because of that, then," said Ashley. "Shit. I didn't realize you had it that bad."

Jodie shook her head. "He didn't do that," she replied, looking back up at Ashley. "But sometimes, I think there are times where that might've been better. He went mad after that, always obsessing over this and that and the other. It wasn't until much later in my life that I found out what he wanted. In fact... it wasn't until right before I was whisked to here that I found out." Jodie leaned back, looking up at the ceiling. "He loved them too much. So much so, that he just wanted to bring them out of the infraworld, so they could stay by him. It was an obsession, and it took over everything in his mind..." Jodie opened her eyes, wiping the water that appeared. "He nearly destroyed the world because of that. And if I hadn't channeled his family..."

"Don't blame yourself," Ashley said, placing a hand on Jodie's shoulder. "You couldn't have known what would happen."

Jodie nodded. "Yeah, I don't know if I could've either," she said. She then looked at Ashley, giving a soft smile. "And there were so many other wonderful moments that I can remember. That's all we can really remember when someone we care about is dead, you know?"

"Yeah," said Ashley, chuckling and leaning back. "I know what you mean. My mom told me the same thing when dad passed on."

"I guess that hit you hard?" Jodie asked.

"Yeah," said Ashley. "Poor dad was as afflicted with the Williams curse as anyone else in my family, but he was there when it counted." She smiled. "I always remember how he'd set up the barbeque and we'd have a nice family grill. He was always away on assignment, but when he came home he was really attentive to all of us." She shook her head. "It was a shock to us when he died."

"It's always a shock in some way," Jodie replied, looking back up at Ashley. She shrugged, looking back at Ashley. "And with Kaidan... well, there's always the crew deck, I suppose. And that blasted panel." She chuckled, looking back at Ashley. "I never did find out what he was doing on that panel."

"He wasn't one to talk about it, was he?" Ashley asked.

"No," Jodie said. "But you know... I'm okay with not knowing that. I didn't really know him that long, but he... He was a nice guy."

"A good guy," said Ashley. "And he stood by us all even to the end."

Jodie nodded, looking at Ashley. She then smiled. "So I guess Aiden doesn't really need to channel Kaidan?"

Ashley shook her head. "I don't think so," said Ashley. She paused, her expression brightening as she looked at Jodie. "But thanks for offering anyway. It's good to know you've got my back on these things."

"Hey, anytime," said Jodie with a smile. "You need anything, just say the word."

Ashley nodded. "I will."

Jodie nodded, her smile faltering. "I'll miss Kaidan."

"We all will," said Ashley.

"Yeah..." She then nodded, looking up at Ashley. "I should let you get to work."

"Yeah," said Ashley. "Thanks. I needed someone to talk to."

Jodie smiled, opening the door to the Mako. "Any time, Ashley," Jodie replied. She then shrugged as Ashley stood up. "Just remember, I'll be around if you need me."

"Sure thing," Ashley replied, smiling at Jodie.

And with this, they both exited the Mako. Jodie stood around the Mako, watching Ashley return back to the bench. After a few seconds of standing in front of it, Ashley grabbed the assault rifle on the table, and grabbing one of her tools she began dismantling it. Jodie smiled, nodding as she walked back to the elevator. She sighed as she hit the call button, pondering on what to do next.

* * *

Jodie stood at the panel Kaidan used to work on all the time. The panel remained open, all of the wires still neatly contained within the box. Jodie sighed, her finger trailing along one of the clumps of wires as she sighed. She looked up at Aiden, feeling the emptiness of the space around her as her other hand touched the outer edge of the box.

"Well, Aiden, there it is," she whispered softly. She leaned her head against the panel, remaining silent. She had no more tears to shed, and even if she had Jodie felt that Kaidan was the one who would not like tears at anything related to his funeral.

She sighed, patting the panel. "Kaidan... I know you're probably not here or anything like that," Jodie said softly. "I just... I wish our last conversation had been longer. I had so much to say..." She sighed, looking back up at the panel. "But I think we always do. I've seen enough people die in my life that I know you never have enough to say when they pass. You never really do." She sighed, leaning her head against the panel.

Aiden clicked, but Jodie remained silent at the sound. "You were always such a good friend," Jodie said. "If you're around here right now, Kaidan... well, know that, at least. I just... I wish there was something I could've done. I feel like I failed you. I... I should've been down there with you." She sighed, closing her eyes as she pulled away. She opened them a second or so later, glancing at a point just above the panel as she crossed her arms. "But whatever the case... you were a good guy, Kaidan. Whatever happens now, I'm fighting for you, okay? I won't let you down, and I'll take Saren down."

Jodie waited, knowing she would not get any confirmation that Kaidan heard her in any way. However, the wait was somewhat comforting; the silence allowed her to colledt her thoughts, and Jodie knew that even the simple act of speaking to the air was a form of getting it off her chest. Combined with her talk with Ashley, Jodie felt quite a bit better upon opening up.

She then nodded after the seconds passed, letting out a soft turned to the mess hall, her steps taking her right over there. She picked up another energy bar, sitting down at a chair. She looked up, opening the energy bar slowly.

 _Hm... We're going to the Citadel, Aiden,_  Jodie thought.  _Do you think we should pay Kalo'Veera a visit?_

Aiden clicked cheerily. Jodie smiled, looking up at where she assumed Aiden was.  _Then I guess I should send him a quick message, right?_ Jodie thought.  _Especially since Shepard probably won't need me when he goes to the Council._ _  
_

Jodie opened her omni-tool, and as Aiden clicked cheerfully she began to write a brief message to Kalo.

* * *

The Normandy had pulled into the Citadel with very few problems. Shepard of course had gone ahead, Jodie knowing that Shepard had a meeting with the Council. He had taken Tali and Liara with him, which left Jodie free to explore the Citadel a little bit. Jodie figured she did not have very much time to visit the Citadel: if all went well, Jodie knew they would be off to Ilos to stop Saren.

Jodie found it difficult to care as she stepped out of the elevator to one of the lower docking bays of the Citadel. She looked around, noticing the hustle and bustle of cargo being carried throughout the bay. In one corner, there was an elcor debating with a volus about pricing or something, and she saw several turians with datapads scattered around the docking bay.

But Jodie's attention was drawn instantly towards the sole quarian there. He sat on a nearby crate, Jodie smiling as he approached. The quarian looked at Jodie as she approached, before he pushed himself off the crate, landing gracefully. Jodie noticed the way his eyes shined brighter than before when he saw her.

"Jodie!" said Kalo, taking a step towards her. He then opened his arms wide, the gesture beckoning.

Jodie smiled broadly before walking right up to Kalo, throwing her arms around him happily as Kalo pulled her into a hug. "Kalo!" she said, holding herself close to the quarian before pulling back a little. "How're you doing down here?"

"It is rather busy, but I manage," Kalo said, looking down at Jodie. He then patted Jodie's shoulder, bowing his head. "I cannot thank you adequately for helping me with the volus. This ship has been a good home so far." _  
_

"Did you get your license?" Jodie asked.

Kalo opened his omni-tool, Jodie stepping back as he did this. Kalo then pulled up an information sheet full of numbers. Jodie squinted, leaning closer. At first she could not make out much of the information, but as she continued reading, it dawned on her just what Kalo was showing her.

"Arrived yesterday," said Kalo, his posture indicating that he was positively beaming under that mask. "I shall be back at the Fleet in no time."

Jodie nodded. "That's good," she said, smiling. She then glanced down the docking bay, nodding. "So... have you made any progress on fitting it for whatever you need?"

Kalo nodded. "Come, let me show you!" He then walked down the docking bay, Jodie following along quickly as the quarian moved along.

* * *

"So it'll be a science ship, huh?"

"Yes, Jodie! Imagine it, would this not be a great ship for research?"

Jodie nodded, looking around at the space inside the ship as it was being filled. Already she could see three tables strewn about, various make-shift terminals erected next to various tables around the ship. Jodie sat right on one of the completed ones, watching Kalo walk in with more metal that he then began to arrange right there on the floor.

"I don't see why not," said Jodie, looking around the ship. "I do have to admit, it feels a little more inviting now that there are things in here. You worry it'll be too crowded, though?"

Kalo shook his head. "There are many more rooms than just this large one, Jodie," he said. "And there is much I must put regardless. Living amenities, sleeping quarters, other such items..." He shrugged. "I scavenge what I can. But it seems that perhaps your turian friend... um... Xerxes, was it?"

"Yes," said Jodie. "You've got extra credits to buy items with?"

"It has proved to be very helpful," said Kalo. "Of course, getting these supplies exclusively new is rather draining on my credits, so I cannot rely on it forever. But it is enough that I can at least provide a framework. The Fleet can do the rest."

Jodie nodded, turning her attention back to Kalo as she smiled. "So then this becomes a science ship, huh?"

"It is up to the admirals what this ship becomes at the end of the day," said Kalo. "But I am sure they will see it fit to act as a science ship." He then stood up, walking over to the table and looking up at Jodie. "So... how is Aiden?"

Jodie blinked, Aiden trilling in surprise briefly. However, Jodie smiled, looking up at the entity. "He's fine," she said. "He's a little antsy, but he can keep it under control by now."

"He must be," said Kalo, looking up. "Being trapped in a place where he cannot do much... I cannot even begin imagining how that must be..." He then looked up, sighing before looking back at Jodie. "Does he... need you to talk to him?"

"No," said Jodie, shaking her head. "He... He is always around. He doesn't need me to talk to him for you."

"He doesn't?" Kalo asked.

"He's always around me," said Jodie. "I can't really make him go away. And Aiden's aware of everything that's going on around us. He has to be." Jodie shrugged. "Of course, he sometimes needs me to talk for him, but he can hear you just fine."

Kalo nodded grimly. "I see," he said, nodding. He then looked up at the air above Jodie. "Um... Aiden... You okay there?"

In reply, one of the nearby terminals turned on of its own volition. Kalo and Jodie looked over, seeing that there was a message written in the word processor of the terminal. Kalo then stood up, walking over to the terminal. He looked at the message, reading it as Jodie stood a short distance from Kalo.

"Hm." He then looked back up. "I see..." He then sighed, shaking his head. "Pardon me for feeling this way, but I feel absolutely ridiculous speaking to the air." He then paused. "Well, not literally speaking to it. You know what I mean."

Jodie chuckled as Aiden gurgled lowly. Jodie then watched as Kalo resumed reading, noticing from where she stood that there had been more text that appeared on the terminal's projection. Kalo then looked up, shrugging.

"Well, Aiden, I suppose that being in a similar situation should breed camaraderie," he said. "And it helps when she turns out to be dependable." He then paused, Jodie feeling her hand tense up. "Just... make sure she stays safe, all right? I do not know that I would forgive you if you let that happen."

Jodie chuckled. "You won't have to worry about that," said Jodie with a soft smile. "Aiden is usually very good about being defensive about me." She then glanced up as Kalo turned to face her. "Sometimes, he got  _too_ protective."

"Maybe," said Kalo. He then looked over at Jodie. "But how are you?"

Jodie frowned. "Why do you ask?" she said. "You already asked me that, didn't you?"

"Yes, but..." Kalo then glanced to the door. "I want to make sure you are all right. After all you did to help me, I trust you. If there is anything you want to tell me, any concerns you might have..."

Jodie sighed, looking up at Aiden. "I guess you have a good point," she said. She paused, glancing to the side. "It's... a long story. But it's about Shepard. There's something...  _strange_ about him. Something he hasn't told anyone." She paused. "Well, that's not really true. He told Tali, Garrus, and Dr. Chakwas about it I guess, but they haven't said anything to us, and he hasn't said anything to us either. And it has me on edge a little."

Kalo nodded, leaning his back against the wall. "I assume Aiden found out about this?"

"He did," said Jodie. "And... well, what I've seen so far doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence."

She then explained to Kalo everything that she had seen about Balak and about Tali. It was a brief explanation, but Jodie felt good that she was able to tell someone else. After Kaidan's passing, that information had stayed her secret once again, and while this fact was not so distressing for Jodie it still felt good to release it.

After the explanation, Kalo nodded. "I see..." he said. "But you cannot find anything to support that statement with, otherwise you would have acted on it already."

"Yeah," said Jodie. She rubbed her arm. "I just don't know, Kalo. Something's horribly wrong with this whole thing, but I don't know the full story, and I don't feel confident taking any action until I know for sure what's going on. And at the rate we're going, I don't think we're going to find out what's going on here."

Kalo walked to Jodie, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "I have faith you will be able to find something that brings the rest of the puzzle together," Kalo said, gently. "If it worries you this much that you do not know what Shepard is up to, you will find a way." He then sighed. "And for what it is worth, I agree with you about Shepard. If he did...  _whatever_ you said he did, then I do not trust that he will have the best in mind. What this Balak man did was horrible, but it would be quite a terrible thing to cause him madness because of it."

Jodie nodded. "Thanks," she said, giving Kalo a genuine smile. "It's good to know that I can depend on people."

Kalo nodded. "It is what a friend is for, no?" Kalo asked. He then removed his hand from Jodie's shoulder. "If Shepard ever discovers you know his secret and it leads to something... less than pleasant, know that my door is always open."

Jodie nodded, smiling at the quarian. "Thanks, Kalo," she said. "That means a lot coming from you." She paused, glancing off to the side. "I'll let you know if-"

Jodie's omni-tool beeped rather loudly. She then looked down at her omni-tool, seeing an indication for an urgent message. Jodie blinked, looking back up at Kalo.

"Oh dear..." Jodie said, turning around and opening her omni-tool. She then looked at the message, feeling Kalo peer over her shoulder as she read the message.

The message was brief:

" _All personnel of the Normandy:_

_Report to the ship immediately. We're going to do something dangerous, and we all need to be on the ship. I'll explain when I return._

_-Shepard._ "

Jodie sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "Something dangerous?" she asked. "I didn't think Ilos would count as that."

"Ilos?" asked Kalo.

"It's where we think Saren is," said Jodie. She shook her head, turning back to Kalo. "Don't worry about me right now. I don't know about Shepard, but Saren is definitely a bad guy. We need to go after him."

Kalo nodded. "Then I think I should not keep you here," he said. He then stepped forward, pulling Jodie into a hug. Jodie hugged back almost on reflex, sighing as he did this. "Take care of what you must, Jodie. I will be waiting here when you come back."

Jodie nodded, before stepping back and simultaneously breaking the hug. "Don't you have a Fleet to get back to?"

"For you, I can wait a little," said Kalo. "Go. I shouldn't keep you." He then looked up. "Aiden, take care of her, okay?"

Aiden clicked several times in rapid succession, Jodie nodding. "He hears you," she said. "And thank you. I'll see you when Saren is dead."

And with this, Jodie turned, making her way to the airlock past the various scraps and pieces of unfinished furniture with a quicker step than she was used to.

* * *

Jodie passed through the airlock quickly, feeling her heart race as soon as she entered the Normandy. Something caught her attention, and then she turned to see Shepard and Joker both at attention at the cockpit. Joker was, at any rate. As soon as Jodie crossed into the Normandy, Shepard looked up at her.

"Ah, Holmes," he said. "Made it just in time."

Jodie nodded. "Sorry, sir," she said. "I was seeing a friend. I didn't think it would take me this long to get back." She then looked at Joker, walking up to the cockpit. "What's going on?"

"Well, Jodie, I hope you liked playing video games as a kid," said Joker. "We're about to do some real Grand Theft Warship stuff up here."

"Grand theft...?" Jodie turned to Shepard. "Shepard, what's going on?"

Shepard shook his head. "The Council didn't believe us, that's what," he said.

Jodie looked at Shepard in shock. "They... they didn't believe you?"

"The idiots don't know what the fuck they're talking about with Saren," said Shepard. "They think having a Fleet here is going to keep them all safe! And the Reapers?" He then scoffed. "A distraction, they said! They don't believe a damn word of it! The ignorant idiots'll get us all killed!"

Jodie frowned. "Ignorant idiots?" Jodie asked. "Don't you think that's a bit much to assume from what little they've seen?"

"You were there on Virmire," Shepard replied. "You saw Sovereign and what he talked about. And they know what's going on here!" He then shook his head, leaning against the control board. "It wouldn't have been so bad if that fucker Udina hadn't grounded us."

Jodie leaned forward. "Is  _that_ why we're playing... um..."

"Grand Theft Warship?" Joker asked. "Funny you should get around to that. Someone's busy taking care of us so we can stop Saren." He then shrugged, turning his attention back to the control panel in front of him. "I knew Anderson was good at getting things done, but I never thought he'd be like Captain Hook."

Jodie frowned. "That reference just doesn't work..." she said.

"You'll get it eventually," Joker replied. He then drummed his fingers against his seat, looking intently at it.

"Well?" Shepard asked. "It can't take  _that_ long for Anderson to punch Udina in the face, can it?"

"Well, Shepard, you know how long it takes to get there on foot," Joker replied. "For all we know, we-"

And then something on the control panel turned green.

Joker immediately sprang to work, his fingers flying across the various holograms on the controls. "Well, there you go, Commander," he said. He then tapped a control panel off to the side, opening a comm line to the whole ship. "Brace yourselves, ladies and gentlemen! This ship is a-go!"

And Jodie found herself thrust forward rather suddenly, the ship lurching back underneath her feet as she barely grabbed on to the bulkhead for support. As she looked up, she saw the Citadel's boarding dock getting rapidly much smaller. She had no time to process the Normandy's quick backing out of the dock, for after another second, the ship had turned away from the dock, and Jodie watched as the ship grew nearer and nearer to the mass relay.

Jodie looked at Joker. "You don't think C-SEC will-"

"C-SEC isn't  _that_ good," said Joker. "You're talking to the Alliance's best pilot, baby!"

And with this, Jodie watched as they drew closer to the mass relay. Before she knew it, they had engaged with the relay, and before long they had catapulted away from the Citadel.

As Jodie looked at the expanse of stars that greeted them, she turned to look right at Shepard. "So we're going to get Saren on our own."

Shepard nodded. "If the Council doesn't want me to do my damn job, then frankly? Fuck them." He then waved his hand dismissively. "Whatever happens, I get to rub it in their face when it turns out that my actions have saved their stupid asses."

Jodie frowned, Aiden clicking in alarm. "Shepard, I don't think you really..." Jodie began, before she trailed off. "Are you sure you should be talking about them like that?"

"I don't like dealing with idiots," said Shepard. He then turned away. "And if their idiocy is going to doom us all, I'm not going to stay silent." He then looked at Joker. "We'll be headed to Ilos right now. I'm going to retire to my quarters for now. What's the ETA?"

"Hm..." Joker turned to the panels. "About eight hours, Commander."

Shepard nodded. "Then it's eight hours I'll spend in my quarters." He then turned away. "Contact me again when we're half an hour away from Ilos."

"Will do, Commander," said Joker.

"Good," said Shepard. "Tali's the only one allowed to bother me. The others can go do whatever."

And with this, Shepard turned on his heel, and marched straight towards the stairs. Jodie watched Shepard leave, her eyes narrowing as her gaze followed his movements. Eventually, he walked through the door, the door closing behind him rather suddenly. Jodie remained looking at the door for a few seconds, the frown remaining on her face.

She then turned to Joker. "I hate to be disrespectful outside of Shepard's presence, but... what commanding officer do you know that's allowed to talk like that?" she asked.

"Probably the one who got his ass kicked all the way through N7 training." Joker then glanced back, before turning his attention back to a window. "But seriously, though, I wonder how Shepard survived boot camp. That kind of trash talk would've gotten him kicked out of the military."

"It certainly would have," Jodie replied, casting a glance at Aiden. "Whatever the case, he shouldn't be talking about the Council like that."

"He shouldn't," said Joker. He then looked to Jodie. "Well, we've got a long time until we get to Ilos, and I don't think we're going to get any do-overs on this one."

Jodie nodded. "You're right," she said. She shrugged. "I'm gonna go talk with people downstairs. I have some things I need to talk to Liara about."

"Sure thing," said Joker. "Just don't let her do that creepy eye thing. It's annoying when she does that."

"I'll do what I can," said Jodie.

And with this, Jodie walked to the back of the ship, making sure to walk to the door opposite the one Shepard walked through.

* * *

Jodie walked past the med bay proper, seeing that Dr. Chakwas was entirely absent from it for once. She assumed she was elsewhere on the Normandy, before proceeding right through to where Liara usually was.

Liara, of course, sat in her usual spot. There was a datapad placed on the desk in front of her that she looked at with some degree of concentration. The asari sighed, shifting her posture without looking in Jodie's direction.

Jodie nodded. "Liara."

The young asari started, looking up at Jodie in surprise. "Oh! Oh, sorry, I was distracted," said Liara. "Please, do come in."

Jodie stepped into the asari's quarters, Jodie looking at her as she sat down on the bed. "It's been a while since we talked, hasn't it?" Jodie asked.

"Just a little," said Liara. "I'm sorry about that."

Jodie shook her head. "Don't worry about that," she replied. "We've all been preoccupied, you know?" She then leaned forward, looking at Liara as the asari turned her chair towards Jodie. "So how are you, Liara?"

"I'm... a little worried, actually," said Liara. "About Shepard."

Jodie frowned. "Why?" she asked.

"I don't know," said Liara. "It maybe the way he behaves, but there seems to be something...  _odd_ about him."

"So you noticed too, huh?" Jodie asked.

Liara blinked in surprise, Jodie watching as the asari's pupils widened almost imperceptibly. Liara then sighed. "Good, I wasn't the only one," she said. "I... I worry about bringing it up to anyone else, but everything about that man... he is a good man, but I find myself repelled by some of the things he does. It is a strange duality I have always noticed, but I have kept it at bay until now."

Jodie sat up, looking at the asari. "You saw into his mind, right?"

"Yes," said Liara. "And..." She shook her head, glancing back at the door. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Of course," said Jodie. "What's wrong?"

Liara nodded, giving Jodie a faint smile as she leaned in close. "When I saw into Shepard's mind... I saw that there were large patches of his memory I could not see. It was like... it was like he was intentionally filtering his memories."

Jodie frowned, leaning closer to Liara. "You looked into his other memories?" Jodie asked.

"It is an unfortunate liability with the meld," Liara commented. "In order to see the vision from the Prothean beacons, I had to sift through much of the rest of his life. I could not see what was in that, though, except for very occasional flashes. And those flashes..." She paused, glancing to the side. "They were filled with so much  _anger_ , Jodie. I suddenly see where Shepard got some of his rage when he dealt with Cerberus, but I cannot see why..." She shook her head. "It is almost as if he...  _conditioned_ himself somehow. This is extremely rare for the meld, and it only happens to people who have conditioned themselves to resist the meld. That takes  _years_ of mental training, and Shepard seems to have had that training from an unknown source. And I know not how he got it or why."

Liara then gazed at the floor. "And I don't know who to talk to about it..."

Jodie glanced to the side, before leaning forward. She then sighed, turning her attention back to Liara as she stood up and approached the asari.

"Actually, Liara, I... I have secrets too," Jodie admitted. "I can help make sense of what you're thinking, but to know that you have to know my secrets. The explanation for how I know won't make sense otherwise."

Liara looked at Jodie. "I figured you were holding back something," she said. "I just... don't know what."

Jodie nodded. "It's tough to explain," she said. "A meld is... quick, right?"

"It should be," said Liara. She then stood up, Jodie looking into her eyes. "All right," the asari said. "Relax, Jodie." The asari closed her eyes. "Imagine that the universe is a large whole. And yet it is not a large whole, for you are one with everything, and the stars are at your fingertips."

Jodie's breathing slowed as she imagined this. She had to fight the urge to close her eyes, but once her breathing was steady and relaxed she found that came easily. She then looked up at Liara intently, concentrating on the blue alien in front of her.

And then, Liara opened her eyes, Jodie looking directly into the pitch-black eyes she had seen with Shepard.

"Embrace eternity!"

* * *

Jodie stepped back, looking at the environment she stood in. She looked over at Liara, watching her as she looked around in the strange metaphysical storm. The asari's eyes were wide, and her steps were slow, calculated. She seemed to step away from Jodie, but in the odd rules of their location, Liara did not lose any distance away from where she was in relation to Jodie.

Liara turned to Jodie after a few seconds. "Well, this is strange," she said. "The meld doesn't usually look like this."

"It doesn't?" Jodie asked.

"No," she said, turning back to Jodie. "I've never seen anything like this. What could have caused this?"

Jodie looked up. "Well... There is one thing I can think of." She then looked at a point above Liara. "Right, Aiden?"

And then, right before Jodie's eyes, something seemed to flow out of the ethereal fog that surrounded them. A bunch of warm clicks emanated through the area as it took the form of a black mass that seemed to move as if it was made entirely of air. The fog travelled towards Liara, the asari turning to look at the fog as it got close.

The asari leaped back, having heard the clicks. "What is that?" she shouted, taking several steps back from the black mass as it approached.

"Don't worry, he's friendly," said Jodie, stepping forward. Jodie felt herself move forward, and in a second she had grasped Liara's arms. "He's Aiden. He's... an entity. He's been bound to me since birth."

"That... Goddess..." Liara said. "What are you talking about?"

"I can tell you more when we get out of the meld, but... he's been around me." She shook her head. "Normally, he's not as powerful if you go in my mind, though. He just needs to establish the link somewhere."

"Then..." Liara shook her head. "Nevermind. Why are we here, then?"

Jodie stepped back, looking as some of the fog behind her began to pull forth projections of her memories. "Because it would probably be best to  _see_ my life story," she said. "You can look into it, right? It should tell you a lot more about me than words can."

A memory then surged forth, the odd fog around them dissipating. Liara looked around them at the room that had formed around them. It was a child's room, full of childrens' playthings and even a bed bedecked in girlish colors. Liara found herself looking around, Jodie walking behind her.

"What... what is this place?" Liara asked.

"It's where I spent most of my childhood," Jodie replied. She then glanced at a mirror in the room before looking back at the door. There, she saw Nathan and Cole standing there, the two of them watching as two slightly fuzzier-looking figures knelt down by Jodie. "I was left here by my adopted parents, to be taken care of by a pair of scientists."

Liara looked on, watching as the father walked out. "What were they researching?" she asked.

"Me," Jodie said. "And they made no secret of that fact." She glanced at the floor, looking at her younger self and clenching her fists at what she knew was coming. "Ever since I was little, I've had Aiden attached to me." She watched as Liara walked out to the doorway, to see the parents walking out. "And because of that..."

Liara cringed as soon as a few seconds passed. Jodie felt a pang of guilt stab her as the adults began yelling, voices all flying around with words that were worn down by time. Liara stepped back to watch the chaos that ensued, before a new voice chimed in. Among other things, Jodie could make out the word 'monster' being shouted at her, Liara looking on from where she had settled against the far wall.

"Goddess..." she said. The asari turned to Jodie, stepping back to her. "Your entity is..."

The scenery changed around them, this time to a rather modernist-looking living room. Party decorations were strewn about, and there were a few teenagers around. Among other things, Jodie looked back, seeing a young version of her teenage self dancing with an older boy. Immediately, a memory of that boy's British accent came to her mind, though it was dulled by what she knew would happen.

"A part of me, yes," she said. The memory fast forwarded a little, to a point in time where the teenagers were pushing the teenaged Jodie out of the room. "I was ostracized by it, and I could never be normal because of it."

The memory fastforwarded again, this time to a large, open field. Jodie looked out, seeing a bunch of recruits running their way through an obstacle course. After a while, Jodie looked and saw herself running amongst them, trudging along in simple recruit's outfit with a shaved head.

Liara stepped forward, looking at the various drill instructors that stood by the side. "These clothes look... old," the asari commented. "But they're not worn and torn like I'd expect."

"That's because I'm not from this time period," Jodie replied.

Liara looked around. "If you had told me that in the real world, I don't know if I'd have believed you..." she said. "But here, where you can't lie..."

Jodie nodded. The memory shifted around them again, though this time Jodie knew the shift had gone backwards in time. She stood in the middle of a destroyed room, a black hole-looking object sitting in the center of the room.

Liara stepped as close as she could, right before a swirl of black mist flew right in front of her. She looked around, seeing dozens of black swirls of mist flying around the room, almost as if they were patrolling the perimeter. She stood back, looking up in awe before turning to Jodie.

"Those look like that thing that moved towards me when the meld started," Liara commented.

"Aiden is probably of their ilk," Jodie replied softly. She then walked over, looking to a door on her left that opened. "But he was always different from them. He was bound to me, so..."

Liara then turned to the ghostly vision of Jodie, Liara noticing that she looked like an older teenager this time. She ran throughout the room, watching as the entities rushed in to attack her. However, Liara saw another entity, one with a black mist surrounded by a warm purple light, one that beat back all the other entities in the room as they approached or harmed Jodie.

"And that's... that's Aiden," said Liara. "The one with the purple aura..."

"Yes," Jodie replied, looking at them. "I haven't encountered anything like this here. I hope they don't discover the Infraworld here."

"The Infraworld?" Liara asked.

Jodie shook her head. "It's what we called the afterlife," said Jodie. "Entities of souls passed through there. But there were other things in there, too."

The memory shifted once again, this time out to the middle of a vast desert. Liara noticed an old-style farmhouse very close to where she and Jodie stood, sand billowing around them in the wind. Upon looking more, she saw Jodie standing around a circle drawn in the sand with a stick. Around them as well were three people with a somewhat darker skin tone: two young men and a very old woman. Faintly, Liara thought she could see some kind of talisman being levitated in the air, and before long the asari heard the languished singing of the old woman above the roar of the wind around them.

And then, Liara turned around just in time to see a black mist lunge at the whole group, this black mist seeming to form the shape of a terrible beast. The asari gasped. "What is that?" she asked.

Jodie looked on at the scene, sighing. "I don't think we have a name for those things," Jodie replied. "The people I was with when this happened called it  _ye'iitsoh_. They didn't know what it was, so they fell back on an old Navajo legend." She then watched as the monster came, knocking everyone away from the circle as a rift similar to the one Liara saw earlier opened in the center of the circle in the ground. Jodie shrugged. "I have to say, it was actually scarily appropriate."

Liara watched as suddenly, the spirits of an ancient-looking people surrounded the circle, thrusting their spears at the creature. She saw the same purple-tinted black mist appear again, the mist colliding with the creature before it was finally forced back into the rift, the rift closing after it.

"You had to stop those things from killing people," Liara said.

"Among other things," Jodie replied. "But killing people..."

Liara nodded, and looked back at Jodie. "You... You've had quite a life," she said.

"Tell me about it." The surrounding area turned back to the neutral zone that was seen at the start of the meld. "These are things nobody else on this ship's crew knows. I've told Ashley and Wrex about it, but... I haven't mentioned anything about the various entities I've fought."

"Then why mention them to me?" Liara asked.

"A lot of reasons," Jodie replied. "But I guess chief among them... I'm not from this galaxy, Liara. "I'm... I'm from elsewhere. And I've had Aiden attached to me since I was born."

"I'm glad I found this out in the meld," said Liara as she stepped forward. "But what does  _any_ of this have to do with Shepard?"

Jodie nodded, before the area around them shifted again. Liara blinked in surprise upon seeing the Normandy's brig form around her. "Because of this," she said. "I hope Aiden's vision that he gave me transfers into the meld."

"Vision?" Liara asked, watching as another version of Jodie knelt at the ground, feeling a dark stain on the floor. "What do you mean?"

"Aiden can give me visions of the past," Jodie replied. "He just has to latch on to something in the real world, and..."

The area around them suddenly took on a strange in-between, Liara looking on as apparitions of Shepard and Balak appeared before the alternate Jodie. "Goddess..." said Liara. "So he told you something about Shepard."

"He did," said Jodie. "And that something was  _not_ good..."

Jodie watched the horrible scene between Shepard and Balak play out, the words Shepard said ringing much clearer this time. And right as Shepard pulled Balak close and Jodie watched him do the laser eye thing, Liara reeled back in shock.

"Goddess!" said Liara, looking away. "What was...?"

"According to Shepard, he made Balak start to go insane," said Jodie, shaking her head as the vision dissolved into the neutral colors of the meld. "I found that out before we dealt with Cerberus, Liara. I've been having my doubts since then."

"I see..." Liara said, glancing to the side. She then looked back to Jodie. "What is happening? Do you think Shepard is not human?"

"I don't know if he is or not," said Jodie. "But whatever the case, I have my doubts about Shepard's intentions."

"Then I share those, now that I've seen this," said Liara. "But what lies in his past that would lead to that?"

Jodie shrugged. "Whatever it is, we'll have to find that out on our own," she said. "For now, we have Saren to deal with."

Liara nodded. "Yeah, we do," said the asari. "We'll talk again after that. I think we will have to, honestly."

"So do I," Jodie replied. She then looked at Liara. "I think we're done here, right?"

"Yes," said Liara. "This will only take a second."

Liara then closed her eyes, her hands closing into fists as the area around them started to shake.

* * *

Jodie opened her eyes immediately, and they were back in Liara's quarters on the Normandy. The asari stepped back, her eyes seemingly back to normal.

"I see..." the asari said. "I apologize, I may need some time to think about all of this."

Jodie shrugged. "It's fine," she said. "It's a lot to take in."

"I know," she said. She then sat back down at her desk. "I will have to think on it. Thank you for showing me all that. I'll talk to you later."

Jodie nodded. "I hope we will," said Jodie, bowing to Liara quickly.

She then turned towards the door, casting one last glance at Liara as the asari turned to whatever was on her desk. Jodie lingered there a little bit, and then she pressed the door control and walked through the still-empty med bay.

* * *

As the hours until their arrival at Ilos ticked by, Jodie laid in the sleeper pod, thoughts racing around in her head. She had tried to go to sleep, but there were too many thoughts about Shepard, especially with what Liara told her. And thus, she found herself staring out of the glass in front of her, sighing constantly as she pondered about everything relating to Shepard. There was so much that was beginning to come together in her mind, but Jodie still could not make sense of it.

She looked up at where she assumed Aiden was. "There's  _got_ to be something we're missing, right?" she asked. "What do you think it is..."

Aiden gurgled uncertainly. Jodie sighed, glancing off to the side.

"Yeah..." She shook her head. "Well, whatever happens, I don't know if we should stick around after this. I don't trust Shepard once Saren is out of the way. And even if I have to go back to that damned shelter, I'm not staying around long enough to find out what Shepard has planned."

Aiden clicked uncertainly. Jodie sighed in response. "Maybe, but I doubt that," said Jodie softly. She then sighed, leaning back. "Is Tali in there with Shepard."

Aiden clicked once in the affirmative. Jodie nodded, biting her lower lip softly. "I thought so," Jodie said. "Well... I guess we're keeping her out of the loop. I just... I don't feel right doing it. She's a friend, you know?"

Jodie was greeted with some silence, before Aiden whooshed rather softly. Jodie nodded, smiling. "Yeah," she said. "Yeah. We'll find out what's going on, and we'll get Tali out of it. I hope we can. If we can get her to see, then maybe..." She looked down at the floor. "Maybe it'll all be for the best." She then leaned back. "But first, we have to figure out what's going on."

Aiden could only chirp in agreement. Jodie then laid back, her gaze turning towards the ceiling of the deck she was in. After a while, she closed her eyes, thoughts of helping Tali running through her mind. These helped to keep the turbulent thoughts of Shepard at bay, something that was desperately needed in those hours before Ilos.

And eventually, Jodie felt the world drift to a standstill around her. She settled into sleep shortly afterwards, and oddly, it was a fitful, uneventful sleep.


	19. Chapter 18

Jodie strapped the last piece of her armor onto her body, looking again at her weapons where they sat on the arms table that Ashley had placed them on. She sighed, finishing putting the strap on before walking over to the table and picking up her weapons.

Aiden chirped softly above her, Jodie nodding as she placed her assault rifle on the magnetic holster on her back.

"I know, Aiden," she whispered, knowing nobody else was in the hangar bay at that time. "But whatever it is, it'll have to wait until we deal with Saren. You can wait for that, right?"

The entity clicked several times as Jodie checked her pistol one last time. She nodded upon hearing Aiden click, right before she holstered her pistol, patting it as she did.

"Good," she said. She then turned towards the Mako, chuckling nervously. "Well, I don't know about you, Aiden, but I think it'll be a tight fit with all of us in there, don't you think?"

Aiden gurgled low, the sound seeming to vibrate in the area around her. She shook her head as she approached the tank. "Well, of course  _you_ won't," she muttered darkly. "You can be places I can't be." Jodie shook her head, looking at the tank. "I guess it's only fitting we're all going down there. If this is gonna be my last mission on this ship..." She shrugged, smiling. "Well, it'll be a hell of a mission to leave on, don't you think?"

Aiden chirped several times in quick succession. Jodie could only nod in agreement, patting the side of the Mako with a nostalgic smile on her face. She cast her eyes down to the ground for a few seconds, before looking at where she assumed Aiden was.

"Well, let's hope we don't have to drop down from the Normandy," she said. "That would be bad."

* * *

"Dammit, I should've  _known_ my bad luck would show up again."

Jodie looked right at Liara with an annoyed expression on her face. The asari looked equally annoyed, though, where she was squished between Garrus and Wrex on the one side, and Jodie on the other.

Jodie grimaced, feeling cramped up against the wall of the Mako as she mentally prepared for the drop.

"It could be worse, you know," Garrus replied. He then shrugged. "We could be in a thresher maw right now."

"I can think of a lot of things better than being inside a thresher maw right now," Wrex shot back, his annoyed glare boring into everyone next to him. "Most of them don't involve being crammed in a tank with a turian."

"Or packed like sardines," Jodie added, glancing to the side nervously. "Oh, this drop is going to be very painful..."

"Especially since we have such a small window to land it," said Liara. She then glanced nervously. "I hope this turns out all right..."

"It probably won't, but I guess we'll see," said Jodie as she looked back to Wrex. "Do you think we-"

And whatever else Jodie wanted to say was immediately cut off by the sudden sensation of the Normandy suddenly moving forward. Jodie let out a loud gasp, her hand instinctively bracing against the wall of the Mako. She then felt herself rise in her seat a little, feeling as if everyone else was doing much the same thing. Jodie breathed in, feeling her stomach rise in her body as she felt the sensation of the Mako falling down to Ilos. She then squeezed her eyes shut, Liara's strangled cry ringing in her ears.

And then, just as suddenly as the Normandy drove out, Jodie was pushed back into her seat, the Mako jumping just a little bit before it then went completely still. She breathed in and out, opening her eyes and looking at the others. She then looked around, sighing in relief.

"Well, it wasn't painful," Jodie said as she forced herself out of the seats. "At least there's that."

"And I knew it, too." Shepard then stepped out from the driver's seat of the Mako, everyone looking at him as Tali and Ashley both stepped out from there. "You see? We'll be fine. Now we'll have to hope Saren didn't close any doors behind him."

"Knowing us, he probably did," Liara commented. Jodie then moved forward as Shepard opened the door of the Mako.

Shepard stepped outside, looking past the tank as he did. Tali followed soon afterwards, and before long the ground team had filed out. As Jodie looked outside, she saw a large blast door in front of the tank. She briefly glanced at the rust-colored foliage around her, before looking up at the door. She noticed the metal had rusted in several places, but most notably was that it was sealed shut, with no visible way to open it.

"Well, there's no way we're getting past there right now," said Wrex.

"Right now, but there must be a way," Tali replied. "Maybe there's a control panel around here somewhere that can open that door."

Shepard nodded. "I'm with Tali on that one," he said. He then turned around, pulling out his assault rifle. "Come on. Let's find this switch."

He then leaned forward, Jodie instinctively pulling her own assault rifle from its holster on her back. The others drew their weapons, before following Shepard out behind the Mako.

And right as soon as they moved past the Mako, Jodie saw a large unit of geth move towards them. As soon as they started firing, Jodie dove into cover, her shields still intact even from the barrage of fire the geth leveled at everyone in her direction. As soon as she was behind cover, she popped out, firing a wave of suppressing fire at the nearby geth. She hit one geth's shields, though it was not enough for her to take them down.

And then she looked up at the almighty roar that was released by Wrex. A second later, Jodie saw Wrex barrel straight into the fray. The next thing she was aware of was a geth unit somewhat close to her exploding in a shower of sparks and white liquid: a split second later, Wrex passed it, laughing gleefully as he then moved on to the next unit.

Jodie blinked, remaining still as she looked at Wrex as he waded right into the fray. She then shook her head, vaulting over cover and following Wrex into the fray.

She then rushed forward, finding another piece of cover closer to where Wrex was. She then settled quickly, firing her assault rifle at a red-tinted geth unit on the other side of the clearing she found herself in. None too quickly, she noticed openings all around the perimeter, turning to one right beside her just in time to see a geth unit run out at her. She let out a loud cry, turning towards that geth unit and emptying her entire assault rifle at the geth unit.

As the unit fell from her hail of gunfire, Jodie heard the successive loud beeping from her assault rifle, and she frowned as soon as she did. She then shook her head, holstering her assault rifle and drawing her pistol.

She then rushed out of cover, running over as a geth unit was biotically pulled from right in front of her. She fired a pistol shot directly at its flashlight head before proceeding, sliding into cover behind what looked like an old computer console not to far away. She then scanned the perimeter once again, seeing a geth unit approach Shepard's flank. Quickly, she lifted her pistol, firing several shots at this geth. Most of them bounced off the geth's kinetic barriers, but one well-placed shot on the geth's flashlight head caused it to take a tumble right in front of Shepard.

And then she heard a pop from very close by. Jodie turned, and then yelped as she jumped out of the way of a collapsing geth unit, Jodie seeing the tail end of a spark shower dying out right at its neck. She then looked back, seeing Tali standing a distance away with her omni-tool prepared. She sighed in relief, before switching out her pistol for her assault rifle.

As soon as Jodie was satisfied that her assault rifle had cooled, she then pushed forward, noticing that Shepard was doing much the same thing. She saw Liara out of the corner of her eye, before she rushed forward. A geth unit popped out of a particular entrance, but before she could process much else the geth was pulled biotically upward. She heard the crack of a sniper rifle, and Jodie looked back to see Garrus popping out of cover to join the others.

Jodie nodded, following Shepard through one of the entrances the geth had poured out of. This brought them to a courtyard similar to the clearing they were in, with Jodie noticing that there was a console one level above where they were. She nodded, looking straight at the console as she followed Shepard to where it was.

However, before they were able to get too far, more geth appeared from entrances on the sides of the courtyard. And then, Jodie looked up just in time to see something quite large fall from the sky above.

She then leaped into cover, hearing the loud thud of whatever had fallen. When she peeked over cover, she saw a single geth unit had landed in the center of the courtyard. It was quite a good deal larger than any geth unit the group had encountered before, standing at least twice as tall as Shepard and certainly twice as bulky. She found herself taking in a deep breath, the large geth looking around the area as Jodie looked from behind the old, dilapidated crates she took cover behind.

The geth then let out an electronic screech, Jodie immediately bringing her assault rifle to bear. She then fired several rounds, but noticed that the larger units shield's seemed to remain completely unaffected. She glanced over at the others quickly, seeing them quickly dispatch the smaller geth units before Tali finally turned her attention to the large unit.

The large unit then turned its flashlight head towards Jodie, Jodie noticing that it was glowing more brightly than she remembered most flashlights glowing. Jodie took a sharp breath in, and then she bolted from cover.

"Shit! Get back, get back-"

And then, Jodie felt an explosion behind her knock her off her feet. She flew into the opposite wall, falling off it and looking up at the larger geth unit as it turned to look at her.

Jodie rolled out of the way instinctively, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Tali thrust her omni-tool forward. She indeed did see something spark on the geth's body, but the large unit seemed completely unaffected by whatever it was that Tali had done. Jodie breathed in, quickly holstering her assault rifle and grabbing her pistol.

"Fuck... Come on..."

She then rushed forward, diving forward to dodge another explosion from where she was barely a few seconds earlier. She quickly got to her feet, firing her pistol at the large geth. Jodie was surprised when the rounds still bounced off the geth's shields, but before she knew it she was already running past the giant geth's legs. She rolled to dodge underneath them as they stomped at where she was, and as she turned around, she saw that the geth had been surrounded in a blue field.

Just as soon as she saw this, she saw Wrex leap straight at the giant geth, the krogan brandishing his shotgun. The krogan then landed at about the level of the geth's chest, grabbing on to its shoulder as he pointed the shotgun straight at the center of the geth's chest. Wrex let out a loud laugh, pulling the trigger at the geth trapped in stasis. He fired once, twice more, laughing gleefully the whole time.

And then, the stasis wore off. But instead of falling down defeated as Jodie expected, the geth stood there, its head turning towards Wrex. Without warning, the geth's arm came right around, gripping Wrex in its hand. It then tossed Wrex right to the ground, directly underneath the geth.

"Wrex, no!" Jodie shouted, as Wrex looked up and the geth lifted its robotic leg up.

And then, Jodie saw as the geth was frozen in stasis again. Before Wrex could move, however, Jodie watched as Shepard then leaped right onto it, Jodie blinking as she saw the little sword-like contraption he wielded against the batarians in his hand. Like some kind of demon, Shepard clawed his way up the geth's side, the geth screeching in electronic pain as Shepard clawed his way up. At one point, Shepard slashed his sword at the geth's shoulder: instead of the blade being blocked by the shoulder joint as Jodie expected, the sword cut right through, the geth letting out an especially loud series of electronic clicks.

It was right as Shepard got to the head that the geth broke out of stasis. However, before the geth could move, Shepard gripped the geth's chest and sliced through the geth's neck, the flashlight head falling behind the geth soon afterwards. Shepard then leapt off, the force of the leap causing the geth's body to fall to the ground. All went silent after the geth fell to the ground, Jodie looking back at Wrex to see as he stood up with Ashley's help.

Jodie bit her lower lip, watching as Tali approached Shepard, the commander nodding at the large unit of geth.

"What was that?" Jodie asked as she approached.

"A very large geth," said Shepard, gesturing at the decapitated geth body. "You see it, right?"

Jodie shook her head. "That's not what I meant," she said, stepping towards Shepard. She then looked back at the geth unit's head, before pointing at the sword. "What's that? With the sword?"

"You already saw it in action," said Shepard. "I like to get up close and personal with certain enemies." He then held the sword up. "As for this... I made it myself. Used technology that is a prototype. I hear the Council races are developing it to be used with omni-tools in the future."

Jodie frowned, looking up at the commander in surprise. "And you trained yourself on how to use it," she said blankly.

"You can believe it or not, but that's not the point," said Shepard. He then pointed at the geth unit. "It's down, and we can continue on with the mission." He then turned to where Liara was standing a short distance away. "Nice work, Liara. I don't think I would've climbed up without your help there."

Liara nodded, but as Shepard walked past the remains of the geth, the asari looked to Jodie with a perturbed look. It was not until Garrus and Tali passed Jodie that the asari approached, Jodie meeting her halfway as the group travelled to the back of the courtyard.

"What isn't he telling us?" Liara asked softly.

"I don't know, but I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking there's something he's not telling us," Jodie replied. "That was... that was  _inhuman_..." _  
_

Liara nodded. "I have no experience with the outside world, and yet I think that was strange." She shook her head. "Well, we have bigger things to worry about now. We can talk about this a little more once Saren is defeated."

"Yeah," said Jodie. "Come on."

The two of them then fell into step behind Shepard, the group walking up a flight of stairs as Jodie fell silent.

* * *

The activation of the door controls went with no further interruptions by the geth. So, too, did their return to the Mako several minutes later. There was of course a Prothean hologram that appeared, but from what Shepard could make of the translation it was a warning come far too late. And thus, the group soldiered on, returning to the Mako and cramming into it again.

This ride was spent in silence, the group looking a little bored as they travelled down a long corridor. Wrex in particular seemed to get a little antsy, the krogan looking to Jodie and Liara with an unamused expression as the group rode on. The krogan opened his mouth to say something, but then he closed it again, looking ahead of him into the driver's seat.

Jodie could only glance to the side. Liara seemed to glance in that direction, for it was the one direction where Jodie felt she would not need to glance directly at Garrus. The turian for his part did not make any kind of conversation, and Jodie willed it to remain this way as they journeyed on. she was rather confident that it would, though, and so she sat back, looking at the wall of the Mako.

And then, the Mako abruptly stopped.

Jodie blinked, looking at Garrus as he popped out of the tight arrangement they were in. They then looked on as Shepard stepped out of the cockpit.

"Shepard, is something wrong?" asked Garrus.

Shepard nodded. "There's a damn kinetic barrier blocking the way," he said. "I don't know what the fuck Saren was doing there, but he's blocking our progress."

Jodie frowned, immediately walking to the now open door of the Mako. She stepped off, and then blinked in surprise at the massive energy field she saw covering the area directly in front of the Mako. Her heart stopped, seeing the energy ebb and wave: briefly, she felt a crippling feeling of helplessness, remembering how such an energy field was the only thing that was ever able to separate Aiden from her. She nearly cried out in anguish, and as she sank to the floor she felt the urge to do so.

And then, she felt someones hands on her shoulders. "Jodie?" she heard Liara ask. "Jodie? Are you all right?"

Jodie looked up, her eyes wide as she breathed in. She then closed her eyes, her hand splaying on the ground in front of her as she took a few breaths to calm herself. She then slowed down, Aiden chirping reassuringly near her ear. She breathed in and out, her heart beat slowing down from the sudden spike it had acquired.

She then stood up, brushing off her shoulders. "Sorry," she replied. "I had a mild panic attack there. Bad memories." She shook her head, brushing some hair back as she looked at the commander. "I'll be fine now. Let's just destroy Saren's trap."

It was then that Jodie noticed Tali standing at an ancient doorway that had a decayed panel. Miraculously, the panel seemed to work at the direction of Tali's omni-tool. Jodie and the others approached the quarian, right as she looked back to them.

"I don't think this is Saren's doing," Tali said. "Unless it's coincidence that we were stopped in front of this door."

Shepard walked up to it, reaching his hand out. As soon as he did, the door opened with a loud metallic creak. The group looked in, seeing a small chamber with another set of doors on the far end. Jodie looked inside, seeing worn-out electronics, some of which had been overgrown with vines. She frowned, stepping into the small chamber. Ashley followed suit, looking around.

"I think this is an elevator..." said Ashley. She and Jodie then looked to the side, seeing that the chamber had a few windows, that looked out to something that indeed looked like an elevator shaft.

"Someone... no, some _thing_ wanted us to come in here," said Liara. "Is there information we need to gather?"

"I don't know, but that barrier isn't going away until we see what it is that's down there," said Shepard as he too entered the elevator. "Come on. Let's take it down."

With this, the ground team piled into the elevator. Tali activated it, the doors squealing shut behind them. There was a loud clap from somewhere far off, and then the elevator made its way down with surprising speed for something so old and dilapidated. There was the odd metallic clang and the odd shift to the side, but otherwise the ride down was uneventful.

And when the doors opened, they found themselves on a small platform leading up to an old computer. The old computer seemed to be on, a hologram of something peeking right at the group. They all stepped forward, looking up at it as Shepard approached quickly. Jodie maintained her distance, standing behind everyone else. She heard Aiden click uncertainly, the group approaching the hologram.

The hologram then moved, the movement startling just because of how sudden it was. It moved similar to an arm-like motion, and Jodie took a step back. She was then taken by the almost regal fashion with which the holographic arm moved, settling somewhere on a vague representation of a torso. Jodie took a single step forward, her eyes widening in wonder as she looked at the hologram.

"You are not Prothean, but you are not machine, either," said a deep voice that emanated from where the hologram stood. "This inevitability was one of many that was anticipated. This is why we sent-out warnings through the beacons."

Liara stepped forward, her eyes wide. "Fascinating," Liara said. "A working VI program..."

"It doesn't look like it's in the best shape, though," Ashley replied.

The hologram paused for a second, before it spoke again. "I do not sense the taint of indoctrination upon any of you, unlike the other that passed by recently," it said. "Perhaps there is still hope."

Jodie then frowned, something coming to her mind. "Wait..." she said. "We can understand it..." She then looked back to Shepard.

Shepard looked at the strange program. "How can you understand us?" Shepard said. "I was the only one able to understand the warning that failed, how can we understand you now?"

"I have been monitoring communications since you arrived here," the artificial being replied. "I have translated my output into a format you will comprehend."

"Comprehend indeed..." said Jodie. "Are you an AI, then?"

"I am an advanced non-organic analysis system with personality implants from Ksad Ishan, chief overseer of the Ilos research facility," the intelligence replied.

"Yeah, that doesn't strike me as the kind of thing a VI would do," Garrus added.

"Evidently," said the intelligence. "My name is Vigil. You are safe here, for the moment. But that is likely to change. Soon, nowhere will be safe."

Shepard shrugged. "Well, it's nice to see you like to speak in riddles, too," he said. "Why did you bring us here?"

"To receive answers; you must break a cycle that has continued for millions of years," Vigil replied as Shepard stepped towards the hologram. "But to stop it, you must understand or you will make the same mistakes we did."

"Same mistakes?" Tali asked. "So the Reapers did exist in your time period!"

Shepard stepped forward, clenching his fist. "Tali, we talked about that," said Shepard. "Whatever the Reapers are, however real they are, they  _weren't_ around during the time of the Protheans!"

"A man in denial?" Vigil asked, its tone almost disbelieving. "No, whatever thisSovereign told you was correct: the Protheans bore the wrath of what we called 'the Reapers'." It then moved somewhat, looking directly at Shepard. "You must understand how they laid the trap, so your galaxy can avoid falling into it as well."

Shepard frowned, and then he nodded a second later. "Go on," said Shepard.

Vigil remained still, everyone in the room watching as Jodie turned to Wrex out in the back of the room. "The Citadel is the heart of your civilization and the seat of government," Vigil began. "As it was with us, and as it has been with every generation that came before us." Vigil paused, seemingly gazing right at Shepard. "But the Citadel is a trap. The station is actually an enormous mass relay."

"An enormous mass relay?" asked Tali. "That's...?"

"And just how has nobody noticed that before?" asked Liara.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure we would've noticed that by now," said Wrex.

"The Reapers are careful to keep the greatest secrets of the Citadel hidden," Vigil replied. "That is why they created a species of seemingly benign organic caretakers."

"The Keepers..." Jodie replied, glancing down at the ground. "So those things deflect our attention by maintaining the Citadel..."

"Yes," said Vigil. "They enable any species that discover the Citadel to use it without fully understanding the technology. Reliance on the Keepers ensures no other species will ever discover the Citadel's true nature. Not until the relay is activated and the Reapers invade."

"Damn..." said Ashley. "That's... That's messed up."

"We do not understand the Reapers or their motivations," said Vigil. "More than likely, none before our cycle knew either."

"So where do they hide out before coming in to ruin our days?" Wrex asked.

"I mentioned that the Citadel is secretly a mass relay," Vigil replied. "There is a relay connected to dark space, the empty void beyond the galaxy's horizon."

"And when the relay connects, then the Reapers pour through, and it's game over for us..." Shepard rubbed his chin. "And since the Citadel is this center of government..."

"Such was our fate," Vigil finished. "Our leaders were dead before we even realized we were under attack. The Reapers seized control of the Citadel and through it, the mass relays. Communication and transportation across our empire were crippled. Each star system was isolated, cut off from the others. Easy prey for the Reaper fleets. Over the next decades the Reapers systematically obliterated our people. World by world, system by system, they methodically wiped us out."

"Jesus..." Jodie glanced to the side, feeling her heartbeat increase. "Even having seen everything, I... It's almost too terrible to be true..."

"It is," said Liara. She then looked up at Vigil. "An entire people, wiped out by an alien force that can't be known..."

"Surely some of you must have survived?" Shepard said as he leaned forward.

"Through our Citadel, the Reapers had access to all our records, maps, census data," Vigil said. "Information is power, and they knew everything about us. Their fleets advance to every settled region of the galaxy. Some worlds were utterly destroyed. Others were conquered, their population enslaved. These indoctrinated servants became sleeper agents under Reaper control. Take in as refugees by other Protheans, then betrayed them to the Reapers. The Reapers either killed us or enslaved us. They were brutal and absolutely thorough."

Shepard then looked up, biting his lower lip. "I see," he said. "So we need to return to the Citadel..."

"And then we need to stop Sovereign from starting up whatever activates that relay," said Jodie. She then turned to Vigil. "Why isn't it automated?"

"It was, once," said Vigil. "People from this research facility sabotaged that function of the Citadel, however."

Ashley frowned. "Sabotaged it?" she asked.

"I was under the impression that the Reapers had cut you off from it," Garrus added.

"They could not foresee the Conduit." All eyes turned to Vigil. "Before the Reapers attacked, we Protheans were on the cusp of unlocking the mysteries behind the mass relay technology. Ilos was a top secret facility. Where the researchers worked to create a small scale version of a mass relay. One that linked directly to the Citadel, the hub of the relay network."

"The Conduit is not a weapon," Liara said, her eyes widening. "It's the back door onto the Citadel!"

"So you managed to stay hidden," Tali said.

"All records of the Ilos facility were destroyed in the initial attack," Vigil replied. "Our facility went dark shortly afterwards, and the researchers retreated into these archives. To conserve resources, the staff was put into cryogenic stasis, to be awakened when the threat had passed."

"Hm... I don't think it would be a short fight if they were trying to kill all protheans," Wrex replied.

"Indeed," said Vigil. "My resources were dwindling as we remained hidden."

"You should've fought, you damn coward," Shepard said, his voice dripping with anger.

"We were a few hundred against a galactic invasion fleet," Vigil replied calmly. "Our only hope was to remain undetected."

"So to reserve resources, you... You had to kill some of them," Liara said, her voice trailing off as she glanced to the side.

"It was unfortunate, but yes," Vigil replied. "Eventually, only the stasis pods of the top scientists remained, and even these were in danger of failing when the Reapers finally retreated back into dark space."

"I see..." Shepard nodded. "To preserve energy, you had to save only the most essential personnel."

"This outcome was not unforseen," Vigil added. "My actions were a result of contingency programming entered on my creation."

"So then the scientists woke up all right," said Jodie. "I assume they found whatever it is that calls the Reapers through the relay and sabotaged it?"

"Yes," said Vigil. "In a typical invasion, the Reapers would send a signal to the keepers, through which the keepers would activate the dormant relay function. Our scientists worked on a way to interrupt this signal. Using the Conduit, they journeyed onto the Citadel, and tampered with the signal of the Keepers." Vigil paused, before it seemed to glance down at the floor. "I can only imagine their fates."

"I see..." said Liara.

"So that's why Sovereign is using Saren," said Ashley. "Sovereign needs a way to get to the Citadel to fix the signal. The invasion can't start if they're all trapped in dark space, you know."

"And even Sovereign wouldn't be a match for a fleet the size of the Citadel defense force," Garrus added. "So he brought the geth along as a distraction."

"That's why Saren needed the Conduit." Shepard then walked right up to the hologram. "So we need to go through the Conduit, and we need to stop Sovereign from jumpstarting the signal for the Citadel relay through Saren. How do we stop them?"

"There is a data file on my console," said Vigil. "Take a copy when you go. When you reach the Citadel's master control unit, upload it to the station. It will corrupt the Citadel's security protocols and give you temporary control over the station. It might give you a chance against Sovereign."

"Master control unit?" Jodie asked.

"I don't think Sovereign can just remotely tap in if the Protheans tampered with the system once already," said Tali.

"Yeah," said Garrus. "And I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure Sovereign wouldn't be able to fit into wherever this master control unit is."

"So we have to do that," said Shepard. He then walked over to Vigil's console, opening his omni-tool and standing in front of it. "I'll go ahead and take this file now."

"Good," said Vigil. "Time is short. After you leave this room, you must make straight for the Conduit. There will not be time enough."

"Got it," said Shepard. He then stepped back from the console, looking at his omni-tool. "I've got the file. Is there anything else we should know?"

"Of the Reapers, there is little more I can say," Vigil replied. "However, I fear there is more I must say in what little time there is."

Liara frowned. "More?" she asked.

"Yes," Vigil said. "Ksad Ishan marked it as a priority in my programming. It is a warning; there is one other threat you must be made aware of."

Jodie blinked, looking directly at the Prothean AI. "There is?" she asked. "The Reapers aren't the only large threat?"

"No," said Vigil. "There is… another that may be of some concern. We were not able to gauge their true intent. It could very well have been a simple misunderstanding, and perhaps I can be proven wrong about this. But their reaction to us..." Vigil paused, before it then seemingly turned around. "There is... a wormhole."

Jodie blinked, and then Ashley stepped forward. "A wormhole?" Ashley asked. "What are you talking about?"

"In our time, a wormhole appeared a little over half a century before the arrival of the Reapers," Vigil replied. "As preposterous as it may seem, there was a whole galaxy to be discovered on the other side of this wormhole."

Jodie blinked, looking over at Wrex as he stepped forward. "I think you're pulling our chain here," said Wrex. "If this wormhole exists, how come we haven't heard of it?"

"I have suspicions as to why," said the AI. "Perhaps it may be that its main species all practiced a very…  _strange_ form of deception on us. We cannot be certain, but speculation is not always wrong." Vigil then paused. "Seeing the races of this cycle, I suppose their deception would have far more…  _disastrous_ results."

"And why would that be?" asked Liara.

"I have images of this species reserved in my data banks," Vigil replied. "Judging from the information contained within those data banks, the dominant species of this galaxy looked… how shall I say… almost exactly identical to three of the people in this group."

Jodie felt goosebumps fly up her arms, and she had to will her foot not to rise of its own volition. "Wait, what?" she asked. "I'm sorry, did you say…?"

"I did," said Vigil. "This species looks identical to what this cycle calls 'humans'."

Jodie tightened her neck, fighting the urge to gasp right there in front of Shepard. Thankfully, Aiden was quick to trill in alarm, and it spoke for the both of them such that Jodie was able to swallow her gasp with some ease. Jodie looked over at Shepard, watching the way he was stepping towards the AI. As he moved, Jodie could not help but notice that Shepard's legs seemed perhaps a little  _too_ tense, and upon closer inspection she saw that one of his hands had curled into a fist.

"That's preposterous!" said Shepard. "That… what are the chances of that!?"

"Yeah!" Garrus added. "I mean, sure, we see that sort of thing all the time in  _Star Trek_ , but that's impossible!"

"It is a parallel reality to ours," said Vigil calmly. "I would wager it to be a happy coincidence. Or an unhappy one." The AI paused. "We attempted to make first contact with this species, but… they attacked us. We drove them back to their wormhole, and that was the last we heard of them."

"You beat them back?" asked Wrex. "So then why are they such a big threat?"

"And why did they attack?" Liara asked. "I have heard of first contact situations here that did not end peacefully, but for them to be perceived as a threat of this size…"

"This galaxy gave our forces a rather… difficult time," Vigil replied. "We attempted peaceful first contact, but they…  _disagreed_ with the methods by which we maintained our empire, and decided to attack. They called it a war of 'cleansing'."

 _Wait… cleansing…_  Jodie frowned, tempted to ask Vigil what was being cleansed. However, she knew that if she asked, her response could tell Shepard something about the fact that she knew what he did. And so, she remained quiet, a cold sweat forming on her temples.

Liara frowned. "Fascinating…" she thought. "I've never come across anything of that sort." She looked up at Vigil her eyes squinted in thought. "Though, perhaps it could explain something interesting that some archaeologists have noticed."

Everyone turned their attention to Liara. "What do you mean?" Tali asked.

"There is a strange trend of Prothean artifacts from a certain period to suddenly have increased technological capacity," said Liara as she turned to the others. "The Prothean beacons fit within the period of Prothean technology that is increased, and before that… It would be a mistake to label that technology primitive, but evidence suggests that they encountered something that bolstered their technological capacity."

"Then why don't we know about it?" asked Ashley.

"It is one of those things that had no explanation, at least not with evidence," Liara replied. "There is much debate in the academic world about this, and nobody has found an answer that is backed up by evidence. But this…" She then walked forward. "This galaxy… Did you use some of their technology?"

"Only when we won the war," said Vigil. "You are correct about the increase in technological ability: they had technology far beyond ours."

"Hmph," said Wrex. "So this galaxy had better toys than you did." He then chuckled. "I hope it made for a good fight."

"It was a difficult fight, and the Protheans would not have called it a 'good' fight," Vigil replied. "In fact, the Reapers proved us wrong when we thought there were no greater threats that could come to us." He paused, and then seemingly looked at everyone. "Their ships were capable of travelling from the Citadel all the way to Ilos without using the mass relay network, and their weaponry was rather advanced."

"What?" asked Ashley. "Traversing the entire galaxy without using the mass relays? That's… that's impossible!"

"How would that have come about?" asked Liara.

"We postulate their original galaxy has no mass relays," said Vigil.

"So again, they had better toys," said Wrex. "Big deal. We can just shoot them all, right?

"No," said Vigil. "My data banks do not hold records of all their tactics, but from the records I do have, I can tell you that they were brilliant masters of subterfuge. They had artificial intelligences that could possess any hardware at will. They had stealth systems one would never have even dreamed of in this galaxy, some which could hide a ship from the naked eye. They had weapons that could melt the ground, turn it into a fine glass." It then looked out to Jodie, Ashley, and Shepard. "And given the similarities of appearance between your kind and their dominant species, I fear they may have gained a new weapon against this galaxy…"

"And why are you telling us this?" asked Liara. "It's been nearly fifty thousand years since you first encountered them. Why should we still be concerned?"

"The Reapers did not attack them," Vigil replied. "Perhaps they did not discover the wormhole into it."

"And how do you know that?" asked Ashley. "Maybe their civilization just died on its own."

"One cannot be entirely sure of how time flows in their reality," Vigil replied. "Very little is known about this parallel galaxy, except for what was seen when they poured out of their wormhole. Perhaps only two hundred years have passed for them. Perhaps a million years have passed. Perhaps their civilization has fallen. Perhaps it has not. Ksad only knew what he saw outside of the wormhole: no prothean ever ventured into the wormhole to see what was on the other side, or how the parallel reality existed in relation to our reality. There may be further quantifiable data, but we do not have it. Thus, Ksad felt it best to warn you of the existence of this wormhole in case the worst scenario has come to pass. I can only hope I will have enough power to meet your leaders to warn them of this, and I further hope that the wormhole has nothing behind it, and that the threat has passed naturally."

Jodie's breath hitched as Vigil said this. Slowly, she turned towards Shepard, watching the way he stood. His eyes shone brightly, and she noticed from the way his eyebrows were quirked that there was visible effort on Shepard's part to keep from frowning in fury. He seemed tense all over, and Jodie swore that if Shepard had not been wearing armor, his nails would have dug into his flesh with enough force to cause bleeding.

She thought back to what Aiden had shown her and told her about Shepard. About Balak's punishment. About what Shepard did for Tali'Zorah. These thoughts came flooding back to the forefront of her mind. Before long, Jodie became aware of the nagging doubt she'd had about Shepard since Aiden had showed her Balak's punishment. And as she thought about the new Vigil gave her, information began to click into place within her mind.

"Okay, so let's suppose these guys are still around," Ashley said. "In the  _very_ unlikely event they still have a civilization after fifty thousand years, when do you think they'll reveal themselves?" asked Ashley, her voice a little more wary than Jodie was accustomed to.

"They may not choose to," said Vigil. "For all we are aware, they may not know that the Prothean empire was extinguished by the Reapers. But, if one were to discover the wormhole and initiate contact…"

 _…then they're already here,_  Jodie thought, looking at Shepard.

Jodie took a breath in, every muscle in her body screaming in the effort it took to make it seem like a normal breath. After this, she stepped forward. "And this race…" she said. "What was its name?"

"They called themselves 'artician'," Vigil replied. "There were other species that served them, but the articians were the leaders."

Jodie nodded.  _Artician_ , she thought.  _So… Aiden,_ that's  _what Shepard is, isn't he?_

Aiden clicked his agreement, and then Jodie found herself glancing right at Shepard. And as she did this, she paused, looking back at Vigil. She then closed her eyes, swallowing a lump in her throat.

 _If what he did to Balak was any indication…_ Jodie opened her eyes.  _I don't trust them._

Right as Aiden clicked his agreement as Wrex crossed his arms. "Well, if they want a fight, they better be ready to come out and deliver it to us," he said. "There's nothing worse than fighting a coward."

"Indeed," Jodie agreed, her voice a little deeper than usual. "There's nothing worse than that."

Shepard nodded, walking to the group. "That's all well and good, but we have to concentrate on one thing at a time," he said. "All of you, back to the Mako. If we want to chase Saren out of here, we'll need to get the Mako ready. I'll stay here and gather some more information on these 'articians'."

Jodie breathed in sharply, even as everyone else nodded.

"Sure thing, Commander," said Tali. She then walked back to the elevator, Jodie noticing that Garrus was also quick to follow Tali to the elevator.

Jodie followed a little more reluctantly, even as Ash, Wrex, and Liara all piled into the elevator. Jodie then entered herself, casting one glance back at Shepard as he approached Vigil's platform. The elevator doors closed in front of Jodie, but she kept staring at the spot where Shepard stood, even as the elevator began to move.

And through it all, she frowned.  _Aiden, what's he doing down-?_

And then Aiden released a languishing trill. Jodie tensed briefly, though not long enough for it to register to anyone else. The breath she drew in was shaky as Aiden trilled once again, this trill more mournful than the first. Jodie's jaw dropped in horror, and then she closed her jaw, her frown resolute.

 _We need to know more,_  she thought, looking ahead of her.  _If he's hiding it like this…_

Aiden clicked, the kind of click he gave if he was scared of something. Jodie nodded, her frown deepening.  _We can't worry about that now, though,_  she thought.  _For now, we have to stop Saren. And whether or not Shepard is a threat to everything in this galaxy, we have to stop Saren first._

And with this, Jodie turned away from the elevator door, just in time for the elevator to come to a stop and for the opposite elevator doors to open.

* * *

Shepard returned to the Mako a few minutes later, a frown present on his face as he stepped into the driver's seat of the Mako.

"Shepard?" Ashley asked. "Did you get any more information?"

"Yes," said Shepard. Jodie then heard the Mako start up. "But we can't worry about that now. We have to take Saren down."

Jodie nodded, biting her lower lip as she felt the Mako move forward.  _Right. Saren,_ she thought. She then glanced to the side.  _Aiden, let's concentrate on Saren for now._

Aiden chirped, but before long, Jodie felt the Mako speed up.

"Hang on tight!" Shepard shouted. "We're going to speed on through to the Conduit!"

And then, Jodie felt herself get pressed back into the seat, looking over at Liara from where the group was crammed. Before long, she felt everyone in the tank shift to the right, Jodie gripping the seat cushion beneath her.

Jodie breathed in, and right before she could react she heard something shift next to her. She turned her head, her eyes widening as a viewport opened up to the side. She watched the scenery of Ilos pass her by, all dark red hues with the occasional silver streak that seemed out of place.

Aiden clicked in response, but before Jodie could reply her side of the Mako suddenly rose. Jodie let out a loud cry, grabbing on to Liara as the Mako tilted on its side, Jodie feeling it on the verge of tumbling over. After a few seconds, though, the Mako then fell back onto those wheels, Jodie letting out a stratled gasp as the thud caused the seat to vibrate. As she did, she thought she heard a vague crunch under the Mako, but it was quickly swept up with whatever other noise was left. Before long, she felt another sensation of the tank turning, Jodie grabbing the seat as the Mako bounced slightly.

The Mako sped off, Jodie seeing more of the geth they passed by as she looked outside. Her breath caught at the speed they were travelling at, the speed catching her off guard.

"I didn't think tanks could drive this-"

And then, her stomach sank far too quickly for comfort, and before long Jodie saw the scenery shift down just a little bit. She leaned back in the seat, grabbing the seat restraint quickly as the Mako then fell back to the ground, her stomach rising as she looked back at Liara.

"Missile round!" Tali shouted from the driver's seat.

"Remind me never to complain about my father's driving ever again!" Garrus shouted back.

Jodie made to glare at Garrus, but before she could, the Mako turned once again, and Jodie felt her side of the Mako lift slightly as they rounded the turn. Liara let out a rather loud cry, Jodie clenching her teeth together as the turn was made.

As the Mako levelled out, Ashley peeked into their area, looking back at them. "Sorry," she said apologetically. "I guess mad rush leads to things like this."

"I guess it..." Tali trailed off, looking ahead of her. "Wait a second..."

Jodie leaned forward, hoping to steal a glance from the driver's seat. She did manage to lean close enough that she could see a structure down at the end of a courtyard. It looked much like a miniature mass relay, the point of the relay pointed at the sky. Jodie took a deep breath in, seeing the blue core of the structure shine brightly.

Jodie also noticed four large geth-like units right by it, shuddering slightly at the fact that they looked to similar to walking tanks for comfort.

"There it is," said Jodie. "It's the Conduit."

Shepard nodded. "Good, let's get going," he said. "We don't have a lot of time!"

He then pushed the Mako into gear, the tank roaring down the pathway quickly.

As soon as this happened, Jodie sat back, looking out the viewport at the large geth tanks. Jodie felt her blood run rather hot as they drove past the geth, and she looked out of the viewport and watched as their flashlight heads began to glow a lot brighter than she was accustomed to seeing. She breathed in sharply, her hands clenching into fists.

Suddenly, one of the geth on her side fired a charged ball of light at the Mako. Jodie let out a cry, squeezing her eyes shut. The back of the Mako then lifted a bit, Jodie's skin crawling as she then felt the entire tank lift up from the ground of Ilos. She heard the explosions around them, Jodie looking over at Garrus and Liara as they braced for impact with the ground.

And as soon as they hit the ground, Jodie looked back into the driver's seat with enough time to see them approach the Conduit.

All at once, she watched as the Mako was surrounded by blue energy. She faintly recognized this blue energy as the kind that was seen in a mass relay jump, and as she sat back in her seat looking out of the side viewport, she found herself amazed at the sight around her.

"Well, we made it through," said Shepard. He then looked back into the general seating area. "Sorry about the rough ride, but we didn't have any-"

And then, Jodie blinked as the Presidium suddenly came into view. The Mako landed, but the speed at which the Mako travelled sent them crashing into a few geth. Before Jodie could process that, the vehicle flipped over, and she let out a loud scream that was drowned out by Liara, Tali, Ashley, and Garrus' equivalent yells before the vehicle skidded to a stop.

Jodie took a sharp breath in, looking up at the floor of the Mako. She briefly wondered when she had been flung from her seat, before she was aware of a throb in her ribcage. She then slowly got to her feet, looking around at the rest of the ground team as they gathered their bearings.

"Is everyone all right?" Jodie asked.

"I'm fine," Tali said.

"Same here," said Shepard. "Everyone else?"

"I'm good, Commander," said Ashley.

"Yeah, I'm here too," said Garrus.

Liara shook her head. "Remind me never to get into a tank with Shepard, ever again," Liara replied.

"Hmph. Whelps." All eyes turned to Wrex, who was still somehow inside of his seat and under the restraint. He then released himself, getting to a standing position with no problem at all. "I've had rougher rides on Tuchanka."

Jodie cringed, looking up at the krogan. "I don't know if I even  _want_ to imagine that," she said.

"Neither do I," said Shepard as he crawled out of where the driver's seat was. "In all honesty, though, we still have to stop Saren. By now, he might have found the control panel."

Liara nodded. "Yes, of course," she said. She then looked over at the door. "Let's get out of here and stop him."

Jodie nodded, looking over at Shepard as he kicked the door out for everyone to exit the Mako.

* * *

A few minutes later, the group had made their way to an elevator that was still functional. The trek had been rather short, but the group was not certain there would still be elevators at that point in time. Of course, the fact that it was functional made their lives a lot easier regardless.

And so, they started riding the elevator up to the top of the Citadel tower.

Jodie looked out, her eyes slightly widened. Even though she had gotten used to the size of the Citadel, seeing it from this viewpoint was a rather interesting experience. However, there was also the issue of the large black ship that was in the Citadel's airspace. The arms had closed by then, and Jodie found it odd to see all the wards of the Citadel joined together. Her breath hitched as she looked at the large black ship in front of them, her hands clenching into fists. Jodie had never seen such a large ship except in hologram form.

To see it in person, though... that was unnerving for Jodie as she marvelled at the sheer  _size_ of the ship.

"I've never seen anything like that..." she said.

"Well, join the club," Wrex grumbled.

"I'd join in, except that I've already seen it on Eden Prime," said Shepard.

"That was a hell of a sight," Ashley added. "We just looked up and there it was. I'd never seen something that...  _big_ before."

"I can't imagine what it must have been like," said Liara. She then looked over at Shepard. "And to think that it's controlling Saren..."

"Well, whatever the case, he's mine," said Wrex. "He's a bastard."

"Are we sure of that?" said Liara. "You heard him on Virmire, he seemed to have good intentions talking to Sovereign."

"I heard he was a bastard before then," said Shepard as he looked up. "From what Anderson told me, he was a bad guy even before he got mind-controlled by Sovereign."

"Hm..." Jodie looked out beyond the glass. "Whatever the case, we have to stop him. He's a threat to all of us no matter how you frame it."

"Couldn't say it any better myself," said Shepard. "But soon enough, we'll be up there, and then we'll-"

And then, they heard a sound as if something were being powered down. The ground team paused, looking around as the elevator slowed to a stop. There was silence in the elevator, and Aiden gurgled in fear.

"Of course," said Shepard, his face contorting in rage. "Of course he couldn't make it that easy."

"So what do we do now?" Jodie asked.

Shepard shook his head, before grabbing his helmet where it was holstered on his hip. "Get your helmets on," he said. "We're going to get to Saren if it means we have to walk up the Citadel tower."

Jodie looked at Shepard. "We're not...?" she asked.

"It's gotta be that way," said Ashley as she pulled her helmet on. "There's no air around the Citadel tower."

"Ah!" Without any further protest, Jodie pulled the helmet over her head. She sealed it within the vacuum, and then found herself trying to steady her breathing as she opened her omni-tool.

 _These things are magnetized, so..._  she thought.

She then felt her feet acquire an anchor to the surface below her, and when she lifted her right leg to test her footwork she found that her foot felt like it weighed a lot more than it did. She was still able to pull it away from the floor, but the extra force required gave her reason to look at it oddly.

And that was when she heard the sound of a gun being fired close to her. She then looked up, seeing the glass on the elevator shatter into a thousand pieces in front of them. The shards ballooned out away from the elevator, forming a strange array of patterns as they spun away from the elevator. Jodie breathed in, taken by the sight before the glass floated away.

She then breathed in, walking over to the edge of the elevator after Shepard. Shepard leapt onto the side of the tower, and Jodie and the rest of the ground team followed suit a few seconds later.

* * *

Jodie felt it was almost surreal how they were quickly running up the side of the Citadel's tower. Jodie was still getting the hang of walking up, however; it was a chore to always remember to keep one foot planted on the surface beneath her. It required constant thinking about for Jodie, what with never having stepped into an environment with little to no gravity.

 _Okay... right foot down, that's right, keep it there..._  she thought as she took a step forward with her foot.  _Now keep the left foot down... Now the right..._

This process was laborious enough. And as she looked up, she saw that the others were going somewhat faster than her. Even Liara, who was behind almost everyone else, was moving quicker than Jodie was. Jodie frowned as she saw this, holding her pistol in her hand as she willed herself to go faster. She almost tripped over herself doing this, though, and so she steadied herself, looking head at the group.

She gave a frustrated growl, Aiden clicking tersely in reply.

She then stepped forward, moving along as best she could on the side of the Citadel.

 _Well, at least nothing has come on to stop us,_  she thought, the refrain of 'left, right, left, right' popping into her head again.

She trudged forward, walking along with everyone else as they reached a more open area of the Citadel tower, seeing a large section of it that seemed rather open.

It was then that Jodie felt something vibrate around her feet. As she looked up, she saw a geth dropship appear, and Jodie's breath hitched at its landing very far above the whole group. She then saw a series of geth units rush straight for their position, some of them taking cover behind various outcroppings from the building.

Jodie frowned as she ducked, slowly getting to cover.  _Great_ , she thought.  _I just_ had  _to think it, didn't I?_

She had no time to comment any further, for then she saw the ripples of mass effect rounds passing her by. She blinked, looking up to see that everyone was firing their weapons: however, there was no sound, except for a few vibrations she felt from her feet. She then looked up, peeking out of cover and firing her pistol. She was surprised at how different it felt firing in a vacuum, seeing the gun fire soundlessly at the approaching geth.

She paused, looking around her.  _Wow..._  she thought.  _This is kind of surreal_.

Aiden chirped his agreement, but before Jodie could say anything more her shields took some hits. Jodie ducked down immediately, her shields recharging. As soon as they had recharged, she looked up, firing some shots at a nearby geth trooper. Her shots took the trooper down, and Jodie watched as the geth then began to float, the 'corpse' floating past her in the lack of gravity.

She turned her attention further up the path, seeing that Shepard had already advanced somewhat, firing his own gun at the geth. Jodie also noticed that Liara had gotten closer, glowing blue the whole time. Jodie thus advanced as well, walking up behind Wrex and looking on as more geth came around. She raised her pistol, shooting at geth that rushed at her as she planted her feet firmly on the ground. She then watched as Wrex blasted it with a shotgun round, the geth suddenly changing trajectory and slowly floating up away from her. Jodie breathed in, watching more geth pour out.

But Jodie paid no attention, for she then turned, seeing Shepard duck right into a way up the tower. Jodie followed suit, firing a few extra pistol shots before turning to follow Shepard with her careful steps.

She then looked up the path, seeing a pair of large armored shapes rushing towards them from above. Jodie immediately recognized these as krogan, and something clicked in her mind. She then rushed forward, hoping to help Shepard.

And then, when her right foot came down, she noticed that her foot had not stuck to the ground. She then began to feel herself flip over and it was only then that she realized that she had forgotten to think 'left, right'.

She panicked, grabbing a wall that jutted out from behind. She saw her shields flicker out, right before she felt an extremely sharp pain on the right side of her back. She let out a loud cry of pain as she was slammed against the other side of the cover, very nearly letting go of the wall as she squeezed her eyes shut. In the silence, she could not make out what was happening around her. At least, not until she swung around from the force that she had been slammed against the wall.

As soon as she saw Wrex rushing forward and giving one of the krogan a shotgun blast directly to the face, she faintly felt hands pull her down, a soothing feeling filling her backside. She opened her eyes somewhat, looking behind her to see that Liara had grabbed her, setting her back on the ground. She felt a little faint, though she still was able to stand on her own two feet.

Jodie breathed in and out with extra effort, feeling how, although the worst of the pain had subsided, her wound still stung a little bit. She gritted her teeth, barely aware of the fight around her. She then looked at Liara, the asari looking at her with concern. Jodie nodded, gritting her teeth as she gave a signal that she was all right.

Liara glanced at her for a few more seconds, before she walked along, pulling Jodie with her. Jodie's back still stung, but she now maintained pace with the others, still gripping her pistol in her other hand. She gritted her teeth as she did so, the pain slowly starting to ebb away as she caught up to the others.

Jodie nearly lost her grip on the floor as she came up to where the geth dropship had landed, but she slowed down, breathing in and out as she set her foot back on the side of the tower. She saw Shepard run over to what looked like a terminal, Jodie noticing that Tali was very close behind him. She took position next to Ashley, looking at the dropship. Quickly, Jodie raised her pistol, firing at one of the red-tinted geth troops that had just come out of the drop ship. Her back pain flared from the recoil of the gun, but it was faint enough that Jodie could keep firing.

Still, that needed to be attended to.  _Aiden, help with that, please,_  she thought.

As soon as she thought this, a second soothing sensation came over her back. She let out a sigh of relief this time, knowing Aiden was doing what he could for Jodie's back. This allowed her to concentrate on the scene in front of her, and she shot the geth units as they swarmed out of there. She saw Wrex seem to run in and out, though it was slower than she was used to seeing him rush, and something in his movements seemed more... relaxed.

She had just taken down the shields of another red-tinted geth when she saw a flash of light in the edge of her vision. She then looked to her right, watching the end of an explosion trail off from the front of the drop ship. She then watched as more explosions impacted the drop ship's hull, the ship starting to take off as this happened. It only got a few feet away from them before Jodie saw the ship explode, its exploding hull crashing into the Citadel tower a few steps above where they were.

Jodie then turned, looking to see Shepard and Tali rush up the side. Jodie breathed in, doing her best to stay calm as she followed the others up the tower.

* * *

"Are you okay, Jodie?"

"I'm fine. I can hold out until the end of this battle. Thanks for asking."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely."

Jodie nodded reassuringly to Shepard as she hooked her helmet to her side. "Trust me, I'm fine," she said.

Shepard frowned, before nodding. "All right," he said. "Well, let's hope Saren doesn't like to target wounded humans."

Ashley chuckled. "Fat chance of that happening," she said. "Come on. Let's give it to Saren."

"Agreed," said the group.

Jodie and the others then advanced, Jodie looking around the area they were in to find that they were inside a rather lush garden-like area. Of course, half the garden was up in flames, Jodie covering her mouth at the smell of the fires around them. Ahead of her, she saw several flights of stairs, all of which led up to a platform at the far end of the rail. The platform had a guard rail, and for a second she thought she could see a form standing somewhere in front of the platform. The figure was vaguely turian, and Jodie took a deep breath.

"That's Saren," she said.

"We've finally got him cornered," said Wrex, pumping his shotgun. "Let's kill that son of a bitch."

"I'm with the krogan," said Shepard. "Come on. Let's go."

The group then quickly advanced to where the turian figure stood. Jodie followed suit, feeling barely anything in her back as she rushed forward with the rest of the group. They rushed up the stairs, weapons at the ready as they all stood by.

Right as the group made it to the top, however, the figure seemed to drop down into a courtyard below the one in front of the raised area. Shepard and the others stepped very close, seeing that there was a platform that had been outstretched over a garden area. They all looked down, seeing very little for Saren to have fallen into. Jodie's gaze lingered, and then she thought she saw something move upon closer inspection.

But before Jodie could point this out, she watched as a small disc-like object was thrown onto the platform above. Jodie looked at it, before it registered in her mind that the object was beeping rather loudly.

"Oh shit!" she said, grabbing Liara's shoulder and pushing her away. "Grenade!"

The others ran away from the disc-like object, and thankfully Jodie and Liara were both behind cover when the grenade exploded. All of the ground team was scattered behind cover, Jodie and Liara nodding at each other as the dust settled.

And then, Jodie looked over cover to see Saren in all his glory. The turian looked almost half-synthetic, with all manner of tubes coming out of his neck. Jodie cringed upon seeing that, before she set her eyes on the rest of the grey turian. There was no face paint anywhere on the turian's visage, and cold eyes that seemed half-dead stared out from the turian's face. Jodie felt goosebumps race up and down her arms as she looked at Saren.

Saren then pointed right at Shepard, who was sitting behind cover directly in front of the turian.

"I was afraid you wouldn't make it in time, Shepard," Saren began.

"In time for what?" Shepard yelled, turning his gaze towards Saren.

"The final confrontation," Saren replied. It was only then that Jodie noticed the platform he stood on hovered in the air. "I think we both expected it would end like this." Saren paused, looking down at Shepard with an unreadable expression. "You've lost; you know that, don't you? In a few minutes, Sovereign will have complete control of all the Citadel's systems. The relay will open. The Reapers will return."

"Sorry, I can't hear you over my impeccable slight of hand, what was that?" Shepard asked.

"You jest, but you do not mean it," Saren replied. "I see you survived our encounter on Virmire. But I've changed since then. Improved. Sovereign has... upgraded me."

"Upgraded?" Jodie asked softly as she leaned towards Liara.

The asari opened her mouth, but before she could Shepard's voice rang out from where he sat behind cover. "You let Sovereign implant you?" the commander asked. "Are you insane?"

"I suppose I should thank you, Shepard," Saren began, his hovering platform inching closer to Shepard. "After Virmire, I couldn't stop thinking about what you said. About Sovereign manipulating me. About...  _indoctrination_. And even your reasoning that I might not have been the first. The doubt began to eat away at me." Jodie gripped her pistol tightly, looking at Saren as he spoke on. "Sovereign sensed my...  _hesitation_. I was implanted to strengthen my resolve. Now my doubts are gone. I believe in Sovereign completely. I understand that the Reapers need organics. Join us and Sovereign will find a place for you, too."

Shepard chuckled. "Sure, and I'm sure that place is  _totally_ not where I'm being crushed right underneath one of those mechanical arms he has," Shepard replied, the sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Don't you get it, you damn stupid son of a bitch? Sovereign didn't implant you to strength your resolve. It implanted you to  _weaken_  it! You started questioning it, and then it implanted you to make you its slave!"

"You are mistaken, Shepard," said Saren. "You see, the relationship is symbiotic. Organic and machine intertwined. A union of flesh and steel. The strengths of both, the weaknesses of neither." Jodie watched as the turian swept his arm in a grand motion. "I am a vision of the future, Shepard. The evolution of all organic life. This is our destiny! Sovereign sees a power in you and has taken great interest. Join Sovereign and experience a true rebirth!"

Jodie frowned, looking at the turian. She then turned to Shepard, who seethed in rage as he looked up at Saren.

"So you're just going to let it happen like the moronic coward you are," Shepard replied. "Don't you realize that if we stop him here, that invasion will never happen?"

"We can't stop it!" Saren replied, Jodie noticing that his voice suddenly seemed to pick up actual inflection. "Not forever." He then pointed at Shepard. "You saw the visions. You saw what happened to the Protheans. The Reapers are too powerful! We can't stop them!"

Jodie gritted her teeth, before looking up at Saren. "And your solution is to help them do their job?" Jodie asked.

All eyes immediately fell on Jodie, even Saren's. Despite this, though, Jodie did not feel her resolve waver.

Saren chuckled. "Letting your crew members speak for you, Shepard?" said Saren.

"You don't understand," said Jodie. "You think this will solve anything?"

"They will see the value of organic life," said Saren. "They have to, after I've aided their cause!"

Jodie shook her head, leaning out of cover slightly so Saren could see her face. A dumb move, she knew, but she knew her shields could protect her if the worst came to pass. "You know just as well as I do that that's not how it works," said Jodie. "These Reapers have some purpose we don't understand, but whatever it is it's not good!" Jodie shook her head. "We spoke to Sovereign on Virmire! Those things can't be convinced to stop what they're doing! Sovereign knows that, and you're hopelessly naive if you don't think somewhere deep down that it's true!" She then moved out of cover so Saren could see more of her. "It's using your hope against you, Saren! It's going to use you to do its dirty work, and then it's going to discard you like some rag! You don't really think Sovereign is going to honor the word it's given to something it thinks is meaningless, do you?"

Saren paused, looking at Jodie as she fully stepped out of cover. Jodie stared right at Saren, her gaze determined as she stood there. The others looked at her, but Jodie stood steadfast; after all, she felt that if she displayed her confidence, it might help her cause.

"Think about it, Saren!" Jodie pleaded. "You know what the right thing to do is! Step aside, and we can stop this invasion! That'll buy us some time to find out how to stop the Reapers, won't it?"

The turian then paused. "Maybe you're right," he said, looking at the ground. "Maybe there is still a chance for...unh!" Saren grabbed his head, doubling over as he let out a cry of pain.

Jodie instinctively took a step forward as Saren's cry was strangled by the turian's own vocal chords. She breathed in sharply, looking at the others as Saren remained quiet for a few seconds. He looked back up at the rest of the group, his eyes wide.

"The implants... Sovereign is too strong," said Saren, almost at a whisper. "I'm sorry. It's too late for me."

And then, Shepard stepped out of cover. "So you're just going to give up like a coward," he said, a sneer on his face. "I know how you think, Saren. You'd sooner die before you're tossed aside like some rag. You say you want to give up, but do you  _really_ want to give up? Or are you secretly a coward at heart?" Shepard then stepped forward. "Go on. Prove me right. You're nothing but a coward, aren't you?"

Jodie's jaw drop as she looked at Shepard. She looked back at Saren, the turian growling low as he stared directly at Shepard. Aiden trilled in alarm, Jodie turning back to Saren in time to see him raise his gun. Jodie instinctively rose her gun up, but before she fired she noticed that Saren was still pulling the gun up.

Eventually, the turian raised the barrel of the gun to his own temple. And all the while, Jodie could hear a low growl, though it was a more pained growl than before.

"I'm... not... a  _coward!_ " Saren shouted. "And I am not a rag! I am Saren Arterius, turian Spectre, and I will do what's right for this galaxy, even if it's to  _spite_ you!"

And with these words, Saren pulled the trigger. The turian tilted to the side, Jodie cringing at the wash of blue blood that flew out of the turian's head as he leaned to the side. Saren's lifeless body then fell off the hovering platform, the turian tumbling into a glass dome beneath him, the dome shattering under the impact of his fall.

With a loud thud, Jodie watched as Saren's body fell to the garden below, going completely still.

There was a tense silence in the air after Saren's fall, the others popping out of cover slowly. They all looked down at the dead turian in the garden below, some looking on with wonder and others in confusion.

All except Wrex, of course. "Well,  _that_ was anticlimactic," said Wrex with a chuckle.

"Tell me about it," said Ashley. "Shepard, we should-"

And then Jodie felt a harsh shove at her shoulder. She stumbled back in surprise, catching her footing as she looked at the way Shepard rushed at her. He seemed  _furious_ , Jodie briefly taken off guard by the fury that transformed his expression as he walked up to her and pointed right at her chest.

"What the  _fuck_ was that?" Shepard screamed at her.

Liara stood up. "Shepard, calm down," she said immediately. "I don't think you-"

"You could've gotten yourself killed!" Shepard shouted at Jodie's face, completely ignoring Liara. Jodie frowned, but Shepard continued. "And what the fuck made you think you could convince Saren? You and I both know that damn turian would never have changed! You made a fucking  _stupid_ mistake, Holmes, and you could have-"

Jodie stepped forward, shaking her head. "First of all, it managed to help get him to commit suicide, didn't it?" Jodie asked. "Like it or not, I stopped a firefight we didn't need! Second, as much as I'd like to debate this with you, we're fighting against time here," said Jodie. "Or were you not listening when Saren said that Sovereign is already in the Citadel's systems?"

Shepard growled, turning back to the control panel where it had extended out. "Fine," he said, his voice giving a low growl. "But this conversation isn't over."

He then turned harshly, quickly making his way up to the platform. After a few seconds, Tali and Garrus both followed him up to the platform, Wrex not far behind and Ashley following suit. Jodie did not follow any of them on, instead moving to stand by the edge as Shepard walked up to the panel and opened his omni-tool. Jodie sighed, shaking her head as she leaned against the guard rail.

Liara joined her next to the guard rail. "Jodie..." she said. "You won't be on the Normandy anymore when that happens."

"I don't care," Jodie said, shaking her head as she looked back at the asari. "Whatever Shepard wants to do, it won't matter once I leave the ship."

"You've decided?" Liara asked.

Jodie sighed, looking at Liara. "It's... complicated," she said, gesturing at Shepard. Thankfully, Shepard's back was still turned to them. "You know why that is."

Liara nodded. "I do," she said. "I wonder what..."

And then, Liara turned her gaze to the window. Jodie did as soon as she saw Liara's distraction, and then she saw from the window that the Citadel's arms were opening. Both of them paused, taking in the sight of the fight outside the Citadel as it became evident to the two of them. They could not see much from where they were, but what little they could see looked rather unsettling. At least it did not seem as if the fight was over by a long shot, and that comforted Jodie somewhat.

She then looked on as Shepard continued issuing orders. "But you know... something about all this..." Jodie trailed off, looking at Ashley. "Something about Shepard..."

"What is it?" Liara asked.

Jodie sighed, looking at Liara. "I can't leave it well enough alone," said Jodie. "I feel like there's more to the story. And I feel like, whatever it is, there's something  _big_ behind it all..." She then looked back at Liara. "You feel it too, right?"

"I do," said Liara as she looked down at the garden beneath them. Jodie looked, seeing that Wrex and Tali had both jumped down to Saren's level, Wrex pulling out his shotgun. The two women hesitated, Jodie watching as Wrex fired the shotgun right into Saren's head. As soon as the loud shotgun blast had finished reverberating around the plaza, the asari turned back to Jodie.

Jodie sighed. "And that's the end of Saren," she said.

"Yes," said Liara. "At least he died while he was in control of his own will. If only I could say the same for-"

And then, the Citadel tower began to shake. Jodie then heard the crackle of static electricity down below, and looked down to see the area around the garden crackling in red electricity. After a few seconds, she saw the red electricity strike Saren's corpse, the lightning immediately causing what little organic flesh Saren had left on his person to disintegrate completely. The corpse twitched, Jodie swallowing down bile that had gathered at the back of her throat.

And then, the red electricity was released out in an explosion that sent Wrex and Tali flying across the garden below. The explosion also dislodged the platform Shepard stood on, the platform falling over as it deposited Shepard, Garrus, and Ashley down below. All three of them rolled to a stop, Liara and Jodie powerless to help as they rolled to a stop.

Jodie gasped loudly as she saw the other notable thing, however: Saren's corpse had stood up, stumbling forward as it began to draw its claws. Jodie watched the mechanical  _thing_ look directly at them, the red electricity arcing all over Saren's body. The red electricity had even formed a kind of core within the synthetic ribcage, and a red glow had taken hold of Saren's eyes.

Immediately, Jodie drew her pistol, Liara doing much the same thing as Shepard and the others down in the garden struggled to stand up. The husk then knelt low to the ground, the red eyes staring back.

" _I am Sovereign_ ," the husk said. " _And this station is mine._ "

Jodie snorted. "Of  _course_ it couldn't be that easy," Jodie muttered under her breath.

She then watched as the Saren husk crawled towards Shepard, the commander instinctively drawing his sword as he looked at the inorganic husk. Saren approached, and then the synthetic creature lunged at Shepard. It tackled Shepard, the creature flying to the far wall beneath Jodie and Liara's position. They heard the shouts and hits of a scuffle, before they both saw Shepard fly right across the garden. The commander tumbled over, looking up as he shakily got to his feet.

Jodie then watched as a red streak appeared, tackling the commander once again. However, the Commander managed to shrug the synthetic off, the husk still managing to land a rather short distance away. Jodie blinked, looking at the husk as it reared on Shepard.

Jodie brought her pistol to bear, quickly firing it blindly at the husk. The husk turned its gaze upwards, Jodie frowning at the synthetic as she breathed in and out. She saw the way the husk's limbs flared out, as if preparing to pounce.

Instead, though, Jodie watched as the red light behind the husk's eyes glowed even brighter than before. Jodie blinked, and moved to jump out of the way just before a red ball of energy exploded at the point where she had been before. She still felt the blowback from the explosion, but she was able to roll back to her feet as she looked down at the turian husk down there.

Jodie scoffed. "Of course," she whispered. "Of course it isn't that simple."

She then rushed back to the edge of the garden, pointing her pistol back down at the garden beneath her. She fired her gun, but before the rounds could make any impact, Saren leapt elsewhere on the walls of the garden below. The husk then fired several red balls into the garden area, causing everyone down there to scatter around. A shower of sparks then emitted from the husk's torso, the husk looking directly at Tali; her omni-tool was out, and even as the husk turned its attention to the quarian she was leaping behind cover.

Jodie took the opportunity to fire at it some more, her shots still reflecting off of the husk's shields. She frowned, but before she could reply, the husk then lunged right at Wrex. Of course, the krogan was ready, so he leapt to the side, firing his shotgun at the husk. This seemed to finally take down the husk's shields, as Jodie saw a flicker of red around the husk.

As soon as the husk landed, however, it released more of those red balls, one of them being one of the large ones. Jodie had run back to her original cover when she saw the blast knock Ashley and Garrus off their feet. Jodie immediately pointed her gun at the husk, opening fire on it. Her shots did absolutely nothing to the husk, however, and Jodie then looked up at the husk.

She leapt away from her cover as soon as she saw the red ball fly towards her. Even still, she felt the blowback from the explosion, and it sent her flying a little further than she intended, so that she even slid a couple of inches across the ground. As she stood up, she heard another loud explosion of static, hearing Ashley scream out in pain.

Jodie scrambled to her feet, returning to cover to see Tali pulling a badly-injured Ashley behind cover. Jodie turned her attention then to Shepard, who was then standing up, staring directly at the Saren husk outside of cover.

Saren rushed straight towards Shepard, but the commander was ready. He raised his sword up, slashing downwards at the moment that Saren passed him. The result was immediate: Jodie saw Saren's arm detach from the husk, the husk howling out in pain as it fell and rolled to a stop. Shepard then chuckled, twirling his sword around as he ran at Saren's corpse. He raised his weapon, ready to deliver a final blow to the husk.

The husk simply fired a massive red ball at the commander, the red ball exploding on impact. Shepard was flung back, his sword flying out of his hand as he landed at least twenty feet away. Tali let out a loud cry of shock, Shepard laying there motionless.

Jodie gasped, the husk looking feverishly around at the others down there. It then began to fire a barrage of red electricity at everyone down there. Even Wrex was forced into cover, with Garrus trying and failing to suppress the rapid fire of red electricity all around them. And meanwhile, Jodie could only watch from above at the chaos down below. She blinked, seeing the sword there, and how close it was to the husk as it began to move around.

Her gaze turned to Liara, the asari hiding behind cover while looking at her pistol. Jodie then looked down at where the sword was, her mind moving quickly.

She then stowed her pistol away, crawling away from cover as she looked at Liara.

 _Aiden, tell Liara to get ready to distract this thing,_  she thought.

The entity chirped, Jodie glaring up at where she assumed Aiden was.

 _Just do it!_  she replied, looking back down.

Jodie looked back to Liara, seeing as the asari's omni-tool opened. As soon as she saw this, Jodie vaulted over her cover, seeing the warm blue light of Aiden protecting her from the red bubbles in a cocoon of blue light. She quickly hit the ground, Aiden's shield dispelling as soon as she did. She then rushed towards the sword, diving behind cover right as her shields broke, and she could only look at Saren's husk.

And then, the husk was struck by a blue light, the husk stumbling back as its constant barrage of firepower was interrupted. It then looked right up at Liara, the asari standing out proud as the husk turned its barrage of red lights at her.

Jodie took this as her cue: she immediately rushed up to the sword, finding the button and turning the blade on. She gritted her teeth, rushing forward as her steps seemed to furiously smash into the ground. She approached, preparing to swing the object.

She only let out a loud cry as soon as the blade began cutting through the husk. It let out an almighty shriek of pain, Jodie pulling up and finding that the blade cut very cleanly through the husk. After a second, Jodie had cut the husk clean in half. This caused some of the red electricity to dissipate, the husk's halves falling off to the side.

Jodie immediately tossed the sword to the side, pulling her pistol out and looking at the others. "Get it now!" she shouted. "Make sure this thing is fucking dead!"

And she followed suit by firing her pistol at the half of the husk closest to her. Soon enough, she heard the deafening roar of other guns going off, but Jodie could not let this distract her. She simply kept squeezing the trigger, squeezing it even after she heard the beep that signaled the weapon's overheating. And as soon as she had exhausted her pistol, she discarded that, pulling her assault rifle back and repeating the process until that too overheated.

And then, there was a deafening silence. Jodie looked down, seeing the completely lifeless husk in two pieces around her. The red electricity was gone, Jodie sighing heavily as she looked down at the pieces of the husk that had been blown apart by mass accelerator fire. She then adjusted her standing posture, shaking her head as she holstered her assault rifle.

"You're terminated, mother _fuck_ er," she said with a frown.

Jodie breathed in and out, turning to look at Shepard. Garrus was already by the Commander's side, Tali slowly walking up to them. Jodie glanced to the side, walking over to Ashley as she struggled to stand up. Jodie pulled her up, slinging the gunnery chief's arm up over her shoulders.

"Ow... Thanks..." said Ashley. "Well... Saren's dead now. And Sovereign can't use his body for anything."

"Yeah," said Jodie. "I wonder how the fight out in space is going."

"Knowing what we just did?" Ashley asked. "I think we'll be fine."

Jodie sighed. "I hope so," said Jodie. "I hope to God we stopped that invasion. That would've been..."

"Yeah," Ashley said as Jodie began to walk along. "I'm sure we stopped it, though. I guess it's no use-"

"Look out!"

Jodie heard Liara's yell as soon as she had taken a few more steps forward. She then saw the area around them darken slightly. Jodie then turned to the window, breathing in and out harshly as she watched a large black object race straight towards them. It had the familiar red glow to it, though that glow was dying as Jodie looked on.

Jodie quickly turned around, but she was only able to get a few steps away before she heard a loud crash behind her. She then felt the ground heave upwards from beneath her, and could only look at the garden she was in as she felt herself soar in the air before she blacked out upon hitting the ground.


	20. Chapter 19

_Jodie moved her eyelids as if to blink, though she felt no movement from them. The black expanse around her seemed to stretch into infinity, an especially thick miasma that swirled around forebodingly._

_Jodie shuddered._ This was what I saw in my coma... _she thought, looking around the black expanse. She walked forward a little, as much as she could._ What's here now?

_She paused upon reaching a staticky projection. Jodie would have gritted her teeth if she could, but as she was not conscious, she could only watch as the static began to give way to something strange, something akin to one of Aiden's visions._

_She frowned at the memory, however, and suddenly she was lurched forward as the memory became much like Aiden's visions._

_However, Jodie immediately frowned, seeing a setting almost completely removed. She looked around, seeing strange creatures all around her in grayscale. Jodie breathed in, realizing that she did not recognize anything in the vision around her. There were beings like large beetles with the eyes of a fly running around, antennae flicking backwards and forwards. She saw some that looked similar to velociraptors, except they stood upright, their armor worn proudly. Even still there were others with four eyes, skin pale and scaley without a nose and arms like the wings of a bat. And then there were those that were frog-like, though Jodie thought she recognized the facial structure from one of the monster movies that she had caught Cole watching one time when she was eight._

_Amidst this parade of faces, order eventually came to pass: all the people around her were in a small room, one likely made for smaller meetings. There was one of each of the four beings she had already seen, and then at the far end she saw a strange figure that looked almost exactly like a human: in fact, she would have believed it was a human if not for the eyes that glowed unnaturally. Jodie swallowed a lump in her throat, turning to where everyone's attention was._

_And there was Shepard, who looked no older than a preteen even. Jodie took in a sharp breath, taking a step back as she beheld this._ What... Is that...?

_"Milord," the man with the bat-like arms said._

_Jodie frowned._ Milord?  _she thought._ Shepard...?

_Shepard looked up. "I know what I must do."_

_"Indeed," said the large velociraptor as he leaned forward. "We do not expect reports on your progress immediately. That would jeopardize your mission."_

_"I am to infiltrate them first," said Shepard, looking around at them. "This is my duty to bring_ them  _to justice."_

 _Jodie flinched at the hateful way Shepard said 'them'._ Them?  _She then took a deep breath in._ Who's... Who would  _them_ be...?

_"Are you sure you must do this yourself?" asked the insectoid being, antennae flicking forwards and backwards rapidly._

_"You forget, councillor, that I appear more human than any of you," said Shepard. He then turned to the humanoid councillor with the glowing eyes. "I will employ you as informants when I can, but being unable to remove sunglasses to hide your glowing eyes would give you away. It must be me."_

_"You know to exercise extreme caution, milord," said the human-like being on the other end._

_"Do you take me for a fool, Jarda?" said Shepard as he walked towards the exion. "I am_ far  _beyond them in intelligence. I will be cautious. And I_ ** _will_** _bring justice to them one way or another."_

_"I was simply ensuring it, milord," the human-like being replied. "Then... you are ready."_

_"I am," said Shepard. "As the last prince of the Shardan bloodline, this is my duty..."_

_Jodie breathed in._ Prince?  _she thought._ What is this galaxy? What...? _  
_

_The raptor-like being nodded. "Of course," he said. "Then go out to them, Jon'ison Shardan. Administer justice in the way only the Shardan bloodline can."_

_Jodie watched as Shepard bowed._

Jon'ison... Shardan...  _Jodie thought._ Is that... Is that Shepard's real name?

_Before she could process this, the vision suddenly dissipated, leaving Jodie out in the black._

_And then, before her, a strange purple cloud swirled into being. Jodie flinched upon seeing this, her fingers tightening as she looked at the purple cloud. It formed the impression of a woman, an aged woman by the posture. Jodie could not tell much else, all discerning features unclear._

_"Go to the galaxy," a voice rung out._

_Jodie blinked, looking at the cloud. "Huh?" she asked. "Are you...?_

_"Go to Jon'ison Shardan's galaxy," the voice continued. "You must go there, you must understand. That is the only way to save us all..."_

_"What are you talking about?" Jodie asked, feeling herself step forward. "Save us all from the Reapers?"_

_"No," the voice replied. "From something far worse than them." The spirit paused, Jodie seeing as the cloud-like body began to peel away from the bottom up, the being billowing away like petals of a dandelion. "Go, spirit-touched. May the spirits guide your way to the truth."_

_And with this, the cloud-like face, dissipated, Jodie taking a step forward._

_"Wait!" Jodie shouted. "Hold on! What's going on? What are you? Where is this galaxy? What were those people? What am I defending you against?"_

_But Jodie's voice echoed back in the dreamscape, a reply lost to the ages. She blinked, looking around the dreamscape._

_And then, the imaginary ground beneath her feet shattered, Jodie letting out a scream as she was pulled into a hole._

* * *

Jodie blinked her eyes open, staring up at a ceiling. As she looked up, she groaned, feeling her body ache all over. The ache was most prominent over the right side of her back, but she felt aches all over her body.

"Well, there you are," a rough, feminine voice replied. "Glad to see you decided to return to the land of the living, there. I'd hate for you to have to be accidentally racist to the goddess."

Jodie blinked, before turning her head to the side. Sitting there on the nearby bed was Sura T'Lenya, dressed in a civilian outfit and holding a datapad. She carried a blank expression, though Jodie could see in the glint of her eyes that the asari seemed relieved she was alive.

"Sura?" Jodie asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Doing some last-minute tallying of everything," said the asari as she leaned forward. "I have to say, you looked pretty badly hurt after getting under all that rubble. The doctors said you'd pull through, though, so if nothing else you're resilient." She shrugged, looking out. "And lucky for you, you avoided the parts with the worst carnage."

Jodie blinked, before she slowly sat up in the room. She was hooked up to all sorts of medical equipment, but what drew her attention was the view of the Presidium outside. She raised her eyebrows, looking out at the rubble-ridden areas around her. Even seeing it in ruins, the Presidium was a sight to behold: greenery was laid out by a lake in the bottom of it, and the buildings all seemed to be white structures that bent at angles she'd grown accustomed to when she was living in her own apartment. The overall feeling was one of opulence, and she indeed saw why Xerxes spoke highly of the place even in ruins.

"Damn..." she said. She then looked back at Sura. "Are the others all right?"

"Oh, they're all fine," said Sura. "About the worst that happened to the others we found up there is that one of them had a broken leg. Miraculous, that one. He should've been so much worse off, and yet there he was."

Jodie frowned. "Shepard," she said.

"Of course," said the asari cop. She then leaned forward. "What happened up there, Jodie?"

Jodie chuckled, shaking her head. "A lot," she said. She then leaned back. "But we took down Saren, stopped Sovereign..." She paused. "And we did it without the Council, too." She then looked back at Sura, her eyes widening. "Where was the Council during all that?"

"They were on the Destiny Ascension," said Sura. She shrugged, looking out. "That almost got blown up, by the way. Thank the Goddess that the Alliance was right around the corner. I don't know about you, but I like my Destiny Ascension whole, rather than diced. Ruins the aesthetic of it, don't you know."

Jodie frowned. "The Alliance?" she asked.

"Shepard gave the order to save them," Sura replied. "A second later, and they would've been obliterated."

Jodie nodded, sitting back and looking out the window. "So when am I supposed to get out of here?" she asked.

"Well, you'll have to ask the doctor that," said Sura. "But anyway... I just thought you'd use the company."

Jodie smiled, leaning back on the bed and looking at Sura. "I thought you didn't like accidental racists," Jodie replied.

The asari returned with a cocky smile. "Only if they don't apologize," she replied. "The ones that apologize don't piss me off, you know."

Jodie shrugged. "Fair enough," she said. "Thanks." She then looked up. "So... is everyone else back at the Normandy?"

"Should be," Sura said. She then stood up, walking to the door and pausing right there. "Well, I'll leave you to it. I'll tell Kalo you're up."

Jodie smiled. "Thanks," she said. "And please... can you get him up here if I'm still here in the next couple of days? I want to see him."

"He's fine, if that's what you're asking after," Sura said. "But sure." She looked back. "I'll see you around, Jodie."

"See you," Jodie replied.

And with this, Sura exited the room. Jodie watched her go, noticing for the first time that the walls of the room were made mostly of all manner of glass. She also noticed that the door was much the same way, and she could peer into the other things happening at the hospital she was in. There were various others there with wounds, though most looked to be getting on rather decently.

Jodie leaned back, looking up at the ceiling. Her frown returned to her as she thought of the dream.  _Aiden... did you see any of that?_

The entity chirped clearly. Jodie nodded.  _I thought so... What could that have meant?_

She sighed, looking at the door as she saw a salarian in a doctor's coat walk up to her room.  _Mm. Well, here's the doctor,_  Jodie thought.  _Let's think about that later, Aiden._

And then, Jodie shifted her posture as the door opened, the salarian glancing at her as he gave her a soft smile.

* * *

As it turned out, Jodie was not long for the hospital; at most, she had to stay for three days for them to monitor her condition. She of course had been directed to take it easy by the doctor for the next couple of weeks, but Jodie doubted she would do much running around during that time anyway.

It was thus that Jodie looked up at the holographic projection that stood in for the hospital television in that age.  _How technology changes..._  she observed, sighing as she looked up.

She heard the door open. Jodie immediately turned, her blood running cold as soon as she saw Shepard walk in.

"Holmes," said Shepard as he stepped in. "It's good to see you're still alive."

Jodie's right hand tightened into a fist, Aiden chirping a warning at her. "Shepard," she said, swallowing after she said it to avoid giving anything away.

The commander paused. "You don't think I'm going to call you out on anything, do you?" he asked.

Jodie sighed. "Well, we got into that yelling match in the Citadel Tower," she said.

"Oh, that," Shepard replied, shaking his head as he pulled up a chair. "I had some time to think on that. You were right, you know: it did help us out in the end. And then... well, there's the whole fact you took it out for me." Jodie noticed that Shepard's neck tensed slightly before he released that tension, leaning forward. "You stole my kill, but screw it, you helped stop Sovereign."

Jodie frowned. "Yeah, what happened there?"

"I get the feeling that Sovereign put some energy into Saren's husk," said Shepard. "I don't know the details, neither does anyone else, and frankly I don't care to know." He then leaned back, looking at Jodie. "Point is, I'm willing to forgive that indiscretion of yours given that it all ended with Saren dying and Sovereign being taken out."

Jodie nodded. "I see..." she said, sitting up slightly. She felt no less agitated at Shepard's presence, but she decided to ignore that. "So what does that mean for me?"

"You're welcome to stay on the Normandy for that," said Shepard. "I know you don't really have a place to call home, so if you need somewhere to stay the Normandy is ready to provide that. I'm sure the Alliance would throw a stink about that without first inducting you into the Alliance, but-"

"As much as I'd like that, I'm afraid I'll have to pass on that," Jodie interrupted.

Shepard frowned, leaning forward. "Holmes?" he asked.

Jodie nodded. "I have friends here I can stay with in the meantime," she said. "But... I've had a lot of adventuring done, Shepard. And I've seen this Saren thing to the end. I mentioned I'd see it to the end and go on my way, and at this time, I think I'm going to do exactly that. I'll figure out what to do with myself, but... the last time I go onto the Normandy, I think it'll be to collect my guitar." She shook her head, looking at her feet. "I'm sorry, but... that's how it is."

Shepard nodded, a frown forming on his face. "Fine," he said. "I'll respect that. But I think the Alliance will be missing out on a real asset there. You'd do great work for them. And for me."

Jodie bit her lower lip. "Thanks, but military life isn't for me," she replied. She then looked at Shepard. "Thank you for the offer, though."

Shepard nodded. "Well, I guess that means I'll have to take my leave, then," he said. "I'd stay and chat, but I have a lot that needs to be done." He then stood up. "I'll see you when you come to pick your things up."

Jodie nodded. "I'll see you then," said Jodie.

Shepard then moved towards the exit. However, right at the door, Shepard paused, before turning back to Jodie. "Oh, and Jodie?" he asked.

Jodie felt her heart skip a beat as she looked over at Shepard. "Yes?" she asked.

Shepard paused, looking over at Jodie, a grimace forming on his face. "Is there anything you want to mention to me before you leave?"

Jodie frowned. "Why do you ask?" she asked.

"I noticed you were acting...  _strange_ , when Vigil talked about that place," he replied.

Jodie's feet stiffened, and it took a lot of effort for her to maintain the same facial expression. "What... what are you talking about?" she asked.

Shepard shrugged. "When he spoke about that galaxy, you seemed a little more on edge..." He paused, glancing to the side. "Almost as if you knew more than you let on."

"I was just as new to it as the rest of us," Jodie replied. She shook her head, pulling her legs closer to her body. "I... I just grew a little more worried that we might have to face another threat, you know?"

Shepard nodded. "You get uppity about that, huh?" he observed.

"That might be part of the reason I joined to stop Saren," she replied. "I just... if the threat's real, I wanted to do something about it."

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that galaxy," he replied, his tone calming. "After all, why worry about something that isn't a threat? Even if it were true, it's been fifty thousand years. They've fallen by now, they must've."

Jodie felt her throat constrict slightly, but nevertheless she found herself giving a nod, squeezing the hand Shepard could not see into a fist. "Yeah," she said. "Maybe I'm worrying over nothing."

Shepard nodded. "Good," he said. "I'll see you on the ship, then."

And with this, Shepard left the hospital room. Jodie watched him leave the hospital through the glass, her breathing quickening as she watched him go.

Jodie then turned, closing her eyes as her whole body tensed up.  _Holy fuck..._ she thought.  _Aiden... Do you think he knows?_

Aiden gave a wavering gurgle, the sound a little louder than was usual for Aiden's sounds. She then heard a rash of frantic clicks, all of them coming very quickly as Jodie looked up at him.

 _Yeah, maybe he doesn't, but let's not bank on that,_  Jodie thought.  _We already know he's definitely part of this galaxy._  She paused, before exhaling and closing her eyes.  _We_ _need to talk to Liara. See what her take on all of this is._

Aiden chirped his agreement. Jodie turned her attention back to the holographic projection above her, but she could not shake the disturbing feeling that had crept into her mind. She eventually turned the hologram off, turning to the side and looking out onto the sparkling blue waters of the Presidium's lake. The waters there seemed so pristine, though the sight was marred by the various clean-up groups peppered around the lake's shores.

She sighed, biting her lower lip.  _Oh, what am I supposed to do about all of this?_

* * *

Jodie stood up, her muscles aching all over. She closed her eyes, looking all around her as the salarian doctor nodded.

Ashley had swung by the little hospital room a day earlier to drop her clothes off, which Jodie was grateful for: seeing that people still wore something akin to hospital gowns in the future was rather annoying, and it made her getting back into her civilian clothes that much better. Even if they made her look woefully out of place, Jodie was comfortable in them.

 _And to hell with anyone that's got a problem with that_ , she thought absent-mindedly as she pulled her jacket on.

She then nodded, looking at the doctor. "Well, that should be all, Miss Holmes," the doctor replied. "Just remember to return here for a check-up in three days' time."

"Of course, doctor," Jodie said. "Thank you for everything."

"Of course, Miss Holmes," the doctor replied. "You have another guest waiting for you."

Jodie nodded. "Thanks," she said. "I guess I'll just walk right over to him, right?"

"I believe so," said the doctor.

The two of them then stepped out of the room, Jodie moving slightly slower as she looked to the entrance of the hospital. "Well, thank you for everything," Jodie said. She paused, looking at the salarian doctor. "Tell your staff taht they're all pretty good."

The doctor nodded. "Of course, Miss Holmes," he replied. "Stay safe."

"You too."

Jodie nodded at the doctor as he then walked off, Jodie left to walk towards the entrance of the hospital. She walked out of the hospital, taking a deep breath as she stepped out of the double doors.

As she did, she looked out into what she assumed was a waiting area. Most of the people around were unfamiliar to her, but Jodie instantly noticed a brown turian sitting to the side. Jodie watched as he turned to look at the door, Jodie watching his mandibles part in a smile as he stood up, closing his omni-tool.

"Well, if it isn't the galaxy-famous Jodie Holmes!" the turian said, stepping forward.

Jodie smiled, too, walking towards the turian. They pulled each other into a hug, Jodie looking up at the turian as she pulled herself close.

"Xerxes," she said.

The turian patted her shoulder, stepping back as he looked down at her. "Glad to see you're still alive," he said. "I bet that final fight must have taken a lot out of you."

"I've been in worse scrapes," Jodie replied. "At least this time I was only out for a few days. The last time I wound up in this situation, I was in a coma for three months."

Xerxes cringed. "Ah," he said. "Sorry to hear that."

Jodie shrugged. "I barely noticed it," she said, her voice a little quieter. "You don't really notice passages of time when you're unconscious."

"I guess that's true," Xerxes replied. He then tapped his foot. "Anyway, let's get going, shall we? I hope you're hungry."

Jodie frowned, looking up at Xerxes. "Hungry?" she asked. "Why?"

Xerxes only smiled, his mandibles falling in amusement. "Well, I suppose you might want something," he said. "Or does the savior of the Citadel not want any gifts?"

Jodie chuckled. "I'm not  _the_ savior, I'm  _a_ savior," she replied. "But... well, when you put it that way, why not?"

Xerxes nodded, the two of them walking out of the hospital. "Then I think you'll be eating rather well today."

* * *

Jodie pulled away from her plate, glancing up at Xerxes in shock.

"Xerxes, I..." Jodie paused, gulping down a nervous glance. "You didn't have to-"

"What, treat you to lunch at one of the hottest restaurants on the Presidium?" Xerxes twirled what Jodie could only assume was the turian equivalent of a fork. "Jodie, please, you only deserve the best."

"But I..." Jodie shook her head. "I saw the prices. And now seeing this..." She then gestured to her plate, on which sauces and puffed rice were delicately scattered about, almost as if they had been painted onto the plate right next to the saddle of some meat from Thessia Jodie had never heard of. "Christ, Xerxes, you don't have to splurge on some stranger."

Xerxes shrugged, dipping his fork-like contraption into a strange black-looking sauce, before spearing his utensil through the breast of some variety of game bird that the turian had told her was imported directly from Palaven. He looked at Jodie. "Why not?" he asked. "I have plenty of money to burn."

Jodie glanced out, looking out into the Presidium below where she and Xerxes sat on the restaurant's balcony. "Still," she replied. "I wasn't expecting to be taken out to lunch at some Michelin-star restaurant like what I'd see on Earth!"

"Well, you're my friend," Xerxes replied.

"I've seen you in person a grand total of three times!" Jodie replied. "And on top of that, I haven't really done anything for you. I feel like I'm taking advantage of your kindness, and I can't..."

Xerxes leaned forward, tilting his head towards Jodie. "If I thought you were taking advantage of me, we wouldn't be sitting here," Xerxes replied. He then shook his head. "Don't worry about me." He then smiled softly. "You can worry about that later when your food isn't about to get cold."

Jodie blinked, before looking back at her food. She grabbed her fork and knife, cutting the piece of meat and blinking in surprise at how little effort she needed to cut into that meat. She paused, before cutting the rest of it off, dipping it in some of the sauce that was laid out on the plate. She bit down, the flavor exploding in her mouth as she smiled.

She swallowed, looking back at it. "No wonder it's so pricey," Jodie replied. She glanced out to the Presidium. "It must be nice to have that kind of money to burn. I mean... I wouldn't think an information broker would make that much that you'd be able to get all this stuff, but hey, it must be great, right?"

Xerxes paused, Jodie turning back to look at him to see that his eyes had widened a little. "I..." He sighed, setting his utensil down as he glanced into the restaurant. "I suppose it is..."

Jodie frowned, noticing the way Xerxes' voice had become more strained. She herself cut into her meat again, dabbing it in the sauce as she looked at him. "Xerxes?" she asked.

The turian paused, his hand tapping against the table. "It's nothing," he said, his voice losing most of the merriment she knew. "I should just, um... continue-"

Before the turian could finish, Jodie had reached across the table, patting her hand on top of Xerxes'. She shrugged, leaving her hand there. "What's wrong?"

Xerxes looked at Jodie. "You... you don't want to know," he replied.

Jodie sighed. "It bothers you."

Xerxes' eyes narrowed. "What?" he asked.

"Whatever you don't want me to know," said Jodie. She looked at him, her expression warm. "I've seen that face before, Xerxes. I'm probably reading you wrong, but believe me, we've all done things we don't feel like telling people. So don't worry. I understand." She shrugged. "Hell, you don't even have to tell me the whole story. But I know there's something more to this."

Xerxes sighed, his eyes turning towards the floor. "I suppose it would've come out sooner or later," Xerxes replied. "Most of my money I have now is from work I'm not proud of. I was not always an information broker. That was just a skill I picked up in my...  _previous_ occupation. I was tasked with looking over over information, making sure it was legitimate..." He sighed. "I got good at scrutinizing the details." He paused, turning his head down. "I'd rather not talk about that if I can help it. It happened some time ago, and it is a part of my life I would rather not reprise. Please, respect that."

Jodie nodded, biting her lower lip. "I see..." She then patted the turian's hand before sitting back. "Well, I guess I see more about why you're so damn kind all the time."

Xerxes leaned forward, one of his mandibles lowering in curiosity. "Why?" he asked.

Jodie sighed. "You're not the only one living with regret, you know," she replied. She shook her head. "I've done some things I'm not proud of either, and I mean some pretty serious things. It's mostly around how I got the combat skills to be on the Normandy. I don't want to talk about it much either, but sometimes I'm in a position where I have to." She sighed, her hand putting down the fork with the food on it. "But when you move on from that part of your life, you get perspective, right? You want to help people, right?"

"Yes..." said Xerxes. He shook his head. "I have so much money to burn now from those days. And I... I did some really questionable things. If I can make a difference in people's lives..." He tilted his head forward, remaining silent for a few seconds. "Strangers can take advantage of me, I know."

"But it's worth it if you can make a direct difference in someone's life," Jodie finished. She smiled at the turian, looking at him as he turned his gaze towards her. "I guess we're not so different after all, huh?"

Xerxes shrugged. "I guess not," he said. "I'd... rather not talk about that former occupation if it's all right with you."

Jodie nodded, her hand pulling away from Xerxes' as she picked her fork back up. "Hey, you have to go at your own pace," she replied. "I understand. In fact... I've got secrets of my own."

"Hm." Xerxes paused, looking at Jodie. "Perhaps an exchange is in order?"

"Whenever you're ready, of course," Jodie replied. "It's a bad idea to do it when you're not, you know?"

"True enough," said Xerxes.

Jodie smiled, looking back at her food. "Well, I guess I better eat up."

Xerxes bowed his head, the smile returning to his face as he picked his utensil back up. "I suppose we should, yes," said Xerxes. "After all, its legs could grow back any second now."

Jodie shook her head. "Oh, I don't think you'd have to worry about that," she replied, picking up her bite of the meat and bringing it back to her mouth. She chewed, before swallowing. "It's silly to expect that to happen."

"Oh, I don't know about that," said Xerxes. He bit into his own food, chewing and swallowing it before he leaned forward. "Don't your chickens run around when their heads are cut off?"

"That's a figure of speech, first of all," Jodie replied. "And second, that's just rigor mortis there. If a chicken's body could think, I don't think we'd-"

And then Jodie's omni-tool sounded rather loudly. Jodie and Xerxes both froze up, Jodie looking at the omni-tool in surprise. She thought she had silenced the omni-tool before entering the restaurant, but evidently this was not the case. She then opened it, realizing that it was a notification that was marked as "urgent".

"Oh..." Jodie leaned forward, opening the omni-tool and seeing Liara had left an extranet message for her. "Oh, it's urgent!"

"What's the matter?" Xerxes asked.

She then opened the message, taking a deep breath as she quickly read the contents.

" _Jodie,_

_I snuck into Shepard's quarters while he was away. You won't believe what I found._

_Find us a good place to meet. It needs to be away from the public. I'll meet you there in an hour._

_-Liara_ "

Jodie frowned, Aiden chirping in consternation.

"Is something wrong?" Xerxes asked.

Jodie nodded. "It's a long story," she said. She then looked at her lunch, before sighing. "We may have to skip dessert, actually. I'm sorry to have to bail on you, but something important just came up."

"I see," said Xerxes as Jodie opened her omni-tool to reply. "Well, will you at least be able to finish your current plate?"

"I should be able to," said Jodie. "Give me a second, I need to type something here."

And with this, she very quickly entered a message in reply to Liara:

" _Liara,_

_Meet me in the lower docking bays. I know just the place._

_-Jodie_ "

She sent the message, and then turned her attention back to the unfinished plate in front of her.

* * *

Almost an hour later, Jodie found herself standing at the front of the docking bay. She stood right next to Kalo'Veera, the quarian looking out and keeping an eye on everything around them. Jodie fidgeted about, looking around nervously. Her gaze turned back to Kalo, the quarian placing a calming hand on her shoulder. The usual hustle and bustle of a docking bay was not enough to distract Jodie this time, and thus she found herself looking back at Kalo.

"Thank you for letting us do this on such short notice," Jodie said.

"It is all right, Jodie," said Kalo. "A friend of yours is a friend of mine, no?"

"I guess so, but still..." She looked down. "I'm sorry I couldn't explain earlier. I feel like we're risking too much with this if I tell you out here."

"Jodie." The quarian looked down at her. "Calm down. We will meet with this Liara T'Soni here, and we will take it to my ship, and we'll be away from any eyes, all right?"

Jodie nodded. "Okay..." She took a few breaths to steady herself. "Okay." She sighed, stepping closer. "Oh, and since I couldn't mention it before... she knows. About  _him_."

The lights behind Kalo's mask widened a little bit as she leaned in. "Oh," he said. "I imagine it was easier since she was an asari."

"Yeah," said Jodie. She then looked out, and immediately saw the light blue skin of Liara standing in the crowd. "Speaking of which, there she is." She then stood up a little higher, waving her hand so the asari could see it.

Liara saw this, and rushed over, Jodie noticing that she was in her fatigues. "Thank the Goddess," Liara replied as she approached. "I was worried you weren't here."

"Don't worry, I am," said Jodie as Liara pulled her into a hug. They broke the hug quickly, before Jodie glanced to Kalo. "And I hope you don't mind company."

Liara frowned, looking at the quarian. "I figured we'd be talking alone," she said.

"Not alone, but I know you know about as much as Jodie does about Shepard," said Kalo as he stepped forward and offered his hand to the asari to shake. "Kalo'Veera nar Idenna. I'm a friend of Jodie's."

"Oh," Liara said, stepping forward and shaking the hand. "Why is he involved?"

"We'll be talking in the ship he managed to get for his Pilgrimage gift," Jodie replied. She nodded to Kalo, and then the two of them began walking into the docking bay. Liara followed. "We've got privacy there." Jodie paused, before looking back at Liara. "And he also knows about...  _him_ , and before I talked to you about it I expressed some of my concerns about Shepard to him."

Liara nodded. "Of course," she said. "That'll make things easier, then." She then looked at the quarian. "Whatever we say in there is something we cannot repeat to anyone else. I have a bad feeling about this."

"I do not believe I would have anyone to tell, but I will keep my word regardless," said Kalo.

"Good," said Jodie. "Then you might want to brace yourself. It's a long story, and you'll probably have a tough time believing it."

"I trust you, Jodie," Kalo replied. "I do not believe 'believing it' will be a problem."

* * *

"Hm... Perhaps you were right that I would have a difficult time believing it."

Kalo leaned back against the wall, looking at Liara and Jodie. Jodie sat on one of the completed work-tables, while Liara leaned on the same one so that she could see the quarian. They had explained everything they knew about Shepard at that point, Jodie sometimes glancing back at the airlock out of habit.

Jodie shifted. "Not many would," said Jodie. She then hugged her arms. "And frankly, I wouldn't have believed it if not for everything else I've seen up to this point." She paused, looking down. "Including something in a dream I had..."

Liara turned to her. "You had a dream?" she asked.

"A very lucid one," Jodie said. "I had it in the hospital."

Kalo pushed off the wall. "What was in this dream?" he asked.

"It was... It was in a small room, about half the size of this room," Jodie said. "And there was a younger Shepard, and... and he was surrounded by all these  _things._ They must've been aliens."

Liara paused. "Their leaders..." Liara leaned further on the table. "Then those other beings must be the other species of that galaxy! Do you remember what they looked like?"

"Like nothing in this galaxy," said Jodie. "They mentioned he was like a prince or something."

"A prince? In a civilization that can achieve space-flight?" Kalo walked over to the work table. "Aiden wasn't playing tricks on you, was he?"

"It's not like Aiden to do that," Jodie said. "And even if it was, it can't explain the voice I heard at the end of the dream." She shook her head. "It told me I needed to venture to the other galaxy to stop something."

Liara frowned. "Without any intel," she asked.

"I know," said Jodie. "I'm not sure that's a good idea myself, but it talked about stopping some threat that's worse than the Reapers."

Liara paused. "I have a difficult time imagining that," she said.

"As do I," Kalo replied, crossing his arms. "If you will forgive my skepticism, Jodie, this seems like an odd dream to have. Perhaps it was just an imagination you drew."

"It may be, but I don't have dreams like that for no reason, and I especially don't find my dreams making half the details up," she replied. "If I had a dream like that, then I think someone was trying to tell me something important." She shook her head. "I guess it's not important, though. We'll need to look more into that as it becomes relevant." Jodie then turned to Liara. "And apparently, Shepard isn't named Shepard in their galaxy. His name is Jon'ison Shardan or something like-"

Liara nearly jumped to the wall. "You..." She then rushed back forward. "But you weren't on the Normandy!"

"That's what the other aliens called him in the dream," said Jodie. "Why?"

Liara opened her omni-tool quickly. "That name appears in what I found," Liara replied, opening her omni-tool. "I know it was foolish of me to rift through the commander's files, but what I found in there-"

"You snuck into a commanding officer's quarters," said Kalo, leaning forward as his free hand curled into a fist.

"After what I heard on Ilos, I'm not going to take any chances on this," said Liara. "I needed to know more, especially after what happened there." She shook her head, looking at the omni-tool as she pulled up some information. "But I found something like this."

"And it was just laying there?" Jodie asked as her eyes scanned the information.

Liara shook her head. "The Commander's smart," she said. "I had to search through a whole lot of logs to find this. He buried it deep: I don't think he expected anyone to look through his communications."

"I am surprised, Jodie," Kalo replied. "I should have thought your friends more courteous than to look through the items of their captain."

"And if their captain was wrong?" Liara asked. "We have reason to believe he may not be working in the best interests of the galaxy."

"I suppose that is true, but you must understand, Miss T'Soni; that is still a grievous error you probably made," Kalo replied.

"That doesn't matter," said Liara. "If Shepard was willing to lie to get his way, then I don't have confidence in what he's planning." She nodded, gesturing back to the omni-tool. "I'm glad I went while he was on a date with Tali; I don't think I would have pulled it up in any way without that."

Jodie nodded, turning her attention to what was written into the program:

" _Councillors,_

_There has been a change of priorities. During my time here in this galaxy, I've discovered a large threat. It will not pose a threat to our galaxy so long as we stay inside, but it may affect our plans. We should decide what to do about this threat. I will travel to the Krepost in due time, both to knight Tali'Zorah and Garrus Vakarian, and to discuss the effect the Reapers have on what we plan. I imagine we can use them to our advantage, but I will speak with you about this soon._

_For now, I will continue to play along with this galaxy's Council. It's not yet time to reveal ourselves, and I have a feeling that until I find a way into Cerberus, it won't be time to reveal ourselves for a while. Tell the DGI to continue monitoring communications. We have a firm foothold in their communications: we cannot lose that, and we will know what they are planning. Keep a close eye on that, and make sure the Shadow Broker does not find out anything about this galaxy._

_And ensure the DRI tells the people of our galaxy what they need to know: Commander Shepard is now considered a hero in this galaxy. We have a firm foothold to commence operations here. Work on all other relevant projects as well._

_We will have our justice soon. Right now, it is only a matter of time._

_-Jon'ison Shardan_ "

Jodie nodded. "It mentioned Cerberus..." She looked at Liara. "So Cerberus and this galaxy have some history together..."

"Well, we know their first contact situation," said Liara. "But what happened?"

"Mm..." Kalo leaned forward. "I imagine it must have been rather bad, if these people refer to it as 'justice'. They must be out for revenge."

"But what would drive them to all of this secrecy?" Liara asked as she placed her elbow on the tabletop and placed her head on her hand. "That is what I don't understand. Why haven't they just come up to the Alliance and told them what Cerberus did to them. Or, for that matter, why didn't they establish first contact?"

"I don't like anything about this." Jodie frowned, pushing herself off the table. "And why can we read it?"

"I just transcribed the text as quickly as I could," Liara replied. "I looked at the addresses it was sent to. Tali, Garrus, and Dr. Chakwas all received it."

Jodie inhaled sharply. "The doctor is in on it too?" she asked.

"It would seem so," said Liara.

Jodie sighed. "Well, on the bright side, this means we know who can be trusted on the Normandy," she said. "Which means that Wrex and Ashley could help us with..."

Jodie paused, her eyes widening in realization. "Ashley!" she said.

"Ashley?" asked Kalo. "As in the Gunnery Chief?"

"Yeah, as in Ashley Williams," Jodie replied. She looked up at Liara. "Maybe Shepard slipped up around her and she picked something up that could help."

"I could ask Wrex as well," said Liara. "And even if he doesn't have anything to add, it would be a good idea to get another person on our side in all this."

"That is all well and good, but what does this actually do?" Kalo asked.

"What do you mean?" Liara asked.

"We would be foolish to act by ourselves in this matter," Kalo replied. "We would be far, far outmatched if this all turns out to be true."

"That's true..." Liara looked at the ground. "Then what do we do?"

Jodie sighed. "I'll have to think about that," she said. "Where's Wrex?"

"Wrex told me he was going to..." Liara's eyes widened, and then she looked at Jodie. "Shit! He was going to leave today!"

Jodie nodded. "Go find him," she said. "Tell him to wait, and tell him everything you know. I'll handle Ashley."

"Of course," said Liara as she rushed towards the airlock. "Thank you, Kalo'Veera! Good luck on your Pilgrimage!"

And with this, Liara stepped into the airlock, the door closing behind her. Jodie nodded, looking at Kalo as the quarian tapped his fingers against the table.

"So... I assume this means that you will speak to this Ashley?" Kalo asked.

"I guess so," Jodie replied. She sighed, looking up. "Kalo... I'm nervous about having to talk to them about this."

"What is there to be nervous about?" Kalo asked. "You are doing the right thing, no?"

"That's not what I'm worried about," Jodie replied. "If I tell a higher up about this, they're going to ask how I knew to start looking into this."

Kalo frowned as he leaned forward. "Which means...?" he asked.

"That I would have to tell them about Aiden." The entity chirped upon hearing this, Jodie looking down. "I only started thinking of all this because of what Shepard did to Balak. I can't lie about that, Kalo. And I can't just say I just stood to the side while it happened. That isn't true, and even if it was Shepard would've caught on by now." Jodie sighed. "And even if I don't tell them immediately, they'll have to find out eventually. They'll want me to stop them, I know it, and for that to happen, they'll have to know about Aiden."

Kalo nodded, placing a hand on Jodie's shoulder. "And yet you know many billions of people could be endangered by this," Kalo replied.

"Yes," said Jodie. "That... that scares me. If I go to them, that means I bring the Alliance and whoever else is involved with the Council in on Aiden..."

"But you will not let those billions of people remain in danger," Kalo replied. "I do not believe you would, not even for yourself." He shrugged, pulling his hand away. "But, that is my observation. Take it with a grain of salt." He took a couple of steps away, before turning to look back at her. "I suppose you should return to the Normandy. You still have things to collect there, no? If you need a place to stay, you are welcome to come here."

Jodie nodded. "Thank you, Kalo," she said. "You're too good to me."

"Anything for a friend, Jodie," he replied. He then looked up. "Take care of her, Aiden. No matter what happens, she will need you now."

Aiden chirped in the affirmative, before releasing a series of other clicks with a whistle. Jodie then nodded. "You take care of yourself, too, he says," Jodie replied. "Stay safe, Kalo."

The quarian nodded. "Of course, Jodie."

Jodie then turned around, walking right to the airlock of Kalo's ship.

* * *

Jodie checked her guitar case one last time, making sure that the pistol she had inside was kept secure. She then nodded, closing the case behind her as she sighed.

 _Man, I can't believe I never used this thing_ , she thought.  _Oh well... I had other things to occupy my attention._

She sighed, pondering about how she had little more than the clothes on her back to bring with her. She did not feel right taking the armor that had been on the Normandy: that had been the Alliance's purchase, and she felt it would be best if it stayed on the ship. She looked around, taking a last look at the mess hall.

Her glance turned towards the area she always got her food.  _Well, I don't know about you, but I'll miss being on a diet of energy bars and maybe a full dinner,_  Jodie thought. Aiden chirped out as if to giggle, the entity flying around Jodie as she turned away.

And right as she walked towards the steps, the elevator doors opened. Jodie paused, watching as Tali walked onto the deck. The quarian walked forward, her eyes widening a little bit as Jodie paused to look at her.

"Jodie," said Tali. "I was hoping to find you before you left."

Jodie chuckled, stepping towards Tali. "Hey Tali," she said. "What did you want to see me about?"

"I just... I wanted to say goodbye," she said.

"Why?" Jodie asked.

"Well, we will be going our separate ways soon," Tali replied. "You're leaving the Normandy."

Jodie shrugged. "Well, I don't need a place to be safe much now that Saren's dead," she replied. "So I figure... well, since I'm no military expert, I figure I'd leave. It's nothing personal."

Tali nodded. "I see," she said. She then glanced down at the floor before turning back to Jodie. "You'll... You're still a friend, right?"

Jodie sighed. "Of course," she said. She then paused, looking back up at Tali. "I just..."

Tali leaned forward. "What is it?" she asked.

"Be careful around Shepard," Jodie said.

Tali's eye-lights narrowed. "Around Shepard?" she asked. "Why would I need to be careful?"

Jodie sighed, her gaze turning to the floor for a second before she looked back at Tali. "You never know with him," she said. "I just... Be cautious, okay?"

"I can trust him," said Tali as she looked away. "He's a good man, Jodie. He's just trying to do what's right." Jodie watched her as she walked towards Shepard's quarters. "And sometimes, that's a difficult thing to do."

"Well, but even so you should be careful," said Jodie. "I don't think-"

"Are you saying he's up to something?"

Tali whirled on Jodie, the lights behind her mask narrowed more than before. Jodie felt the hairs on her arm stand on end, feeling a chill rush through her arms as she looked Tali in the eyes. She took a shaky breath in, before shaking her head with small movements.

"I... No," she said. "I'm just... I'm just warning you. As a friend. I'm worried with how much time you've spent around Shepard lately. I just want to make sure you know what you're getting into, is all."

Tali paused, before nodding. "I see," she said. "You don't have to worry about him, Jodie. Thanks for the offer of help, but you shouldn't worry. He's Shepard. What kind of things could he do wrong?" She shrugged, and from there, Jodie could tell that Tali harbored no hints of malice towards her. "Hopefully, we'll keep in touch. Goodbye, Jodie. I hope we'll meet again in the future."

With this, Tali entered Shepard's quarters. The perky nature of her exit from the mess hall only made Jodie feel more creeped out, such that she almost lost her grip on the guitar case. Jodie turned away, looking up at Aiden.

 _He's got her in his thrall,_  she thought.  _What... what did that man_ do  _to her?_

Jodie shook her head, sighing as she walked up the steps.  _Whatever the case, I have to talk to Ashley,_ she thought.  _This mounting evidence... I need to bring her in on it. And then..._

She paled slightly as she stepped into the CIC, Aiden gurgling nervously. Jodie was relieved the crew was likely out celebrating their victory against Sovereign: it meant no one would see her walk through, looking as if she had seen a ghost.

She only spared one last glance at the CIC before she hurried into the airlock, in which she fell to her knees right as the decontamination cycle started.

_This whole thing with Shepard is only getting worse all the time..._

* * *

Jodie sat at the table, her toes tapping the floor nervously as she looked ahead. Her breath came in somewhat quick bursts, and the soothing music that played over the restaurant's sound system did nothing to calm her nerves. She glanced up to Aiden from time to time, hoping that Ashley would take her prompting to talk.

She glanced at the plate of red hummus that rested in front of her before she opened her omni-tool again, rereading the message that she had sent to Ashley. The information was correct, it made mention of what she knew… Everything was correct.

Jodie glanced at the clock on the omni-tool, noticing that it was a couple of minutes past the time that she and Ashley were supposed to meet. She sighed, closing the omni-tool and closing her eyes.

As she sat there pondering, Jodie heard Aiden click rapidly a few times in succession. Jodie leaned over the table, glancing up at the entity.

"I'm sorry," said Jodie. "This is just… this is  _really_ important, you know? After what I heard from…" She paused, shaking her head. "You know how important this is…"

Aiden simply gurgled in reply, which left Jodie looking at the ground. She looked at the ground for a couple more minutes, breathing in and out at a deliberate pace to calm her heart as it beat in her ribcage.

And then, she heard footsteps approach the table.

"Sorry I'm late. The rapid transit had some technical difficulties."

Jodie immediately looked up to see Ashley standing in her civvies. Jodie sighed in relief. "I was starting to think you wouldn't come," she said. "Thank God you're here." She then gestured to the seat in front of her. "Please, take a seat. We're gonna be here for a while."

"I don't doubt it," said Ashley as she sat down. She looked down at the plate on the table. "Hummus, Jodie?"

She nodded. "I hope you don't mind," she said. "I got here a bit early, so I ordered something."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Ashley said. "Actually, it looks pretty good. You mind if I dig in?"

Jodie chuckled, gesturing to the plate. "Go right ahead," she said.

"All right," said Ashley as she picked up one of the pieces of strange asari bread that rested at the edges. Ashley dipped it into the hummus, and paused. She facepalmed, and then looked up at where she imagined Aiden would be. "Hey there, Aiden. Sorry for ignoring you. You doing okay?"

Aiden chirped rather happily in response. Jodie nodded, and looked at Ashley. "He's fine," Jodie said. "And he says thank you. I can count the number of people that consider Aiden a person on one hand."

"Well, a ghost is still a person, right?" Ashley asked. "It's just their soul, after all." She then took a bite, her eyebrows arching up. She chewed and swallowed, and then pointed at the dish. "This is good hummus."

"It's apparently house-made," Jodie replied. "Rare on the Citadel, but there you go." She then leaned forward. "And speaking of Aiden…"

Ashley nodded. "This is about something he showed you," said Ashley. "What's wrong?"

Jodie breathed. "Well, first, I have to talk about Vigil," said Jodie. "Because it was just a hunch for me until now, but after Ilos…"

Ashley frowned. "What, about his warning?" she asked. "Jodie, we already stopped the Reapers from taking over the Citadel."

"No, no, not that," said Jodie. "About the other galaxy connected by a wormhole."

"Oh. Oh!" Ashley shifted her posture slightly so that she leaned forward at the table. "Yeah, that. I was wondering about that myself." She then glanced to the side. "It seems a little farfetched, doesn't it? I mean, if Vigil was right about the Reapers, then there may be something to it, but if there was some wormhole to another galaxy we would've heard about it by now, right? And anyway, their civilization probably fell already. Most empires can't make it past a thousand years; let's not even talk about one that's lasted for fifty thousand years."

Jodie breathed uneasily. "That's… that's the problem, Ashley," she said. She then leaned forward. "I think... However it works, that civilization is still around."

Ashley frowned in confusion. "Whoah, slow down, Jodie," Ashley said. "I've heard a lot of weird things from you, but  _that_ … This has to be some kind of joke."

Jodie shook her head, and then swallowed a lump in her throat. "Ashley, did you see Shepard's body language when Vigil talked about that galaxy?" she asked, dropping her voice down to a whisper. "He seemed a little…  _too_ involved in what Vigil was saying about it."

Ashley blinked, and then leaned forward, her hand covering her mouth. "Hm… Now that you mention it, he did seem the most surprised out of all of us," she said. "And he did stay behind." Ashley's expression lightened, and then she shrugged. "Maybe he just wanted to learn more about this galaxy from Vigil. I know I would."

Jodie breathed in nervously, shaking her head. "I don't think Shepard went in there to find out about that galaxy," she whispered. "I think… I think he went in there to make sure nobody that came to Ilos after us could find out about it."

Ashley jumped at this. "Jodie, he wouldn't do anything like that!" she said. "This is Shepard you're talking about! I'm sure he wanted to know about that galaxy! And why would he sabotage any efforts to defend ourselves against this galaxy? He seems like a pretty upstanding guy."

Jodie shook her head, her gaze turned towards the floor. "Ash, that's why I needed to talk to you in a place Shepard wouldn't think to look," she said. She then glanced nervously amidst the restaurant's patrons. When she was satisfied that nobody was eavesdropping, she put an arm on the table and leaned in rather close to Ashley. "Everything you know about Commander John Shepard is a lie. Aiden… he showed me some things. And after what Vigil heard, and after some things I heard from Liara... I think you need to know about those things."

And so, Jodie told Ashley everything she knew. Jodie made sure to keep quiet in case someone was eavesdropping on them. Ashley sat forward, listening to everything Jodie said. As Jodie spoke, Ashley's expression slowly deepened into a frown, and Jodie could see from the way she glanced around that she was pondering what Jodie was saying.

When Jodie was finished, Ashley was leaning forward, looking at Jodie. "And you're sure of this," Ashley said.

Jodie nodded. "Aiden wouldn't lie about something like this," Jodie said. "He wouldn't show me that if he didn't think it was important."

"But come on, that thing with Balak?" asked Ashley. "That's hard to believe."

"I had a tough time believing it too," said Jodie. "And then Vigil told us everything." Jodie sighed, looking at Ashley. "And I wanted to talk to you first about it. Maybe… maybe you know something about him that I don't."

"Why ask me, though?" Ashley asked. "Why not ask Tali? She's known him for years."

"Because Tali is too close to Shepard," Jodie said, her voice dipping in volume for a second. "Liara confirmed with the message she found that Tali's in on it. If she's in on it, then that means Shepard's already got her in his pocket. I can't trust her with this." She shook her head. "But I know I can trust you. I know you won't tell Shepard."

"And why not ask Shepard?" Ashley asked.

"Because of Balak," she said. "The fact that he's actually an alien from a galaxy that he hasn't told  _anybody_ about is bad enough, but when you combine that with the fact that he committed a  _war crime_ without any remorse at all…" Jodie sat back in her chair, giving Ashley a questioning glance. "He talked about having a foothold in this galaxy." She shook her head. "Can you think of  _anything_ at all that Shepard might have talked about that seems odd? Anything that can point to what he might want?"

Ashley then drummed her fingers across the table. "Hm…" She then leaned forward, a frown forming on her face. "Now that you mention it, there  _is_ something that bugs me about Shepard."

Jodie leaned forward. "What is it?" she asked.

"When we were looking for leads on Saren, Shepard got a call from someone," she said. "He said he had to excuse himself, and he took the call away from Kaidan and I." Ashley leaned forward. "I got curious, and so I listened in without his knowledge. But the words I heard… They didn't sound like anything even remotely resembling English."

Jodie frowned, leaning forward. "The words didn't register to your translator?"

"No," said Ashley. "I've been trying to think of an explanation for a while, but I've been drawing nothing but blanks. It wasn't a translator glitch, I know that thanks to Barla Von. It also can't be a language we know because it would've translated."

"So it could be their language?" Jodie asked. "Then that just confirms it…" She looked over at Ashley. "Did he say what he was doing?"

"He said it was related to Tali," Ashley replied. "But think about it: if he was speaking his own language to someone, then that means that—"

"There was someone on the other end of the line allied with him," Jodie finished.

The two women paused, and then looked directly at each other.

"You don't think he means ill for the galaxy, does he?" said Ashley.

"It's a very real possibility," Jodie muttered. "If he's going to these lengths to masquerade as a human while hiding the existence of an entire galaxy, then..."

"...then he could be dangerous," Ashley finished. "Masters of subterfuge. Just like Vigil said..."

Jodie took a deep breath, her heart beginning to beat very quickly again. Her fingers felt numb, as one particular solution came to the front of her mind. It was an obvious solution, but fraught with danger for her. Her throat tightened as she considered it, Aiden chirping in concern from where he hovered above her.

Jodie glanced up at Aiden. After a few seconds, her gaze turned to the floor, her hands tightening into fists. She closed her eyes, taking a few breaths to steady her heartbeat.

 _Well, I guess I'll have to bite the bullet_ , she thought.

Jodie opened her eyes, and then looked at Ashley directly.

"Ash..." Jodie began.

"Yes, Jodie?" the gunnery chief replied.

Jodie tried not to concentrate on how dry her mouth felt as she opened it.

"Ash, we have to tell Anderson about this."

* * *

**End of Part I**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that does it for Part 1 of this thing! So yeah, lots of craziness happened, and lots of craziness will continue to happen as we get deeper and deeper into this story.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys all enjoyed it. And if you guys enjoyed it... well, I'll be taking a brief break on this series right now. It's hit a good stopping point, and I've admittedly got other projects I need to sort out elsewhere on the interwebs.
> 
> But fret not, I shall return to this soon enough! So after the new year, look out for Part II of this fic when it comes around! I hope to see you guys then!


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